AbstractThis strategic report examines the 2026 U.S. and Israeli war against Iran and argues that the conflict transcended a conventional military confrontation, evolving into a hybrid and multidimensional struggle encompassing the economic, cyber, cognitive, and geopolitical domains. The author contends that the crisis marked the end of the illusion of absolute American supremacy and demonstrated the effectiveness of the doctrines of asymmetric deterrence and strategic resilience in the face of advanced weaponry. The confrontation between two strategic logics—Western domination-oriented strategy and Iran’s strategy of survival and resistance— demonstrated that in modern warfare, social capital and internal cohesion are as decisive as military and technological superiority. By maintaining the continuity of its governing institutions,making intelligent use of its mountainous geography, leveraging the strategic energy chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz, and imposing substantial asymmetric costs through low-cost systems, Iran was able to halt the enemy’s war machine. The international consequences of this conflict include the rapid erosion of the unipolar order, the growing fragility of traditional Western alliances, the weaponization of the globaleconomy, and the acceleration of the transition toward a multipolar system. The report’s final conclusion rests on the key proposition that the future security architecture of the Middle East will no longer be based on the hegemony of a single external power. Rather, this new order will consist of a combination of strategic competition, managed instability, and selective diplomacy within a multipolar structure, in which regional powers play an established and undeniable role.Key Takeaways:Hybrid and Cognitive Warfare: Future wars will not be determined solely on the military battlefield; dominance over narratives and victory in the cognitive domain will be the principal factors shaping outcomes.National Social Capital: Internal cohesion, public trust, and national solidarity constitute a nation’s most powerful defensive and strategic shield against attempts at destabilizing its political order.The Geopolitical Leverage of Geography: Control over the Strait of Hormuz and the world’s energy arteries, as an instrument of asymmetric pressure, has profoundly altered the balance of power and the calculations of costs and benefits.The Rise of a Multipolar World: The Western coalition’s inability to achieve a decisive military victory serves as confirmation of the end of uncontested American hegemony and the practical emergence of a multipolarera in international relations.Full text of the article is available by this link:https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/from-absolute-supremacy-to-multipolarity-lessons/