Iran’s willingness to escalate this high-stakes war is its greatest weapon

Regime will do whatever it takes to cling on to power – including sacrificing economies of other Gulf states Middle East crisis – live updates Brinkmanship, the ability to take a country to the edge of war without plunging it into the abyss, was the cornerstone of cold war diplomacy. But in our different, more unstable times – in which the line between state and non-state actors has blurred, and weapons of war have diffused – the world this week finally tipped over the edge, and suddenly it is in freefall. The first six days of the Iran war cost the US $12.