professor mearsheimer makes it clear that the empire isn't doing well; 

 

As might have been expected, the peace talks in Islamabad between America and Iran quickly ended in complete failure, breaking up in less than 24 hours.

President Donald Trump had originally proposed peace negotiations based upon Iran’s 10-point proposal, but all of that was totally ignored when the talks actually began. According to media accounts, the American team led by Vice President JD Vance and New York City real estate developers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff instead issued unacceptable demands to the Iranians, declaring that they needed to abandon all the nuclear enrichment activities to which they were legally entitled and also relinquish their control of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that they currently control. Perhaps Vance and the others surprisingly expected to win at the negotiating table what their American military had completely failed to achieve in six weeks of warfare, and were disappointed when the Iranians stood firm.

Astonishingly enough, a Washington Post columnist had recently called for the assassination of all of Iran’s leaders and negotiators if they failed to bow to American demands, and this led some to suggest that Iranian team should fly back to their own country on a Russian or Chinese airliner lest the disgruntled Americans shoot their plane down. America as a nation has sadly begun to resemble some unfortunate animal suffering from rabies, a pattern of behavior that also reflects what journalist Glenn Greenwald has decried as the increasing “Israelization” of our political system. But perhaps this merely demonstrates the remarkable extent of American desperation after more than six weeks of a failed war................more...........