How Trump’s Iran war just made US-China peace more likely

The wars of the 2020s, from Russia to Iran, have revealed a fundamental principle of modern warfare: Energy infrastructure is the first target. Russia systematically destroyed 80% of Ukraine’s thermal power capacity. Ukraine retaliated by disabling an estimated 17% of Russia’s refining capacity. When Iran threatened the Strait of Hormuz, insurance premiums spiked globally, refiners scrambled, and governments with no stake in the conflict felt it in their energy costs overnight. Now every major power knows that, in war, energy infrastructure gets hit first, and when it does, everyone loses. That lesson applies with special force to the United States…