a term coined, I think, by Yale historian Paul Kennedy in "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers." The phenomenon (I'd call it a "theory" but it's too well established to be called just that) is that great powers expand past the point where their underlying productivity and capacity can maintain their commitments and begin to retract -- sometimes in spectacular collapses. The Mongols, the Romans, the Ottamans, the Dutch, the French, the British, the Soviet Union -- they all went splat.

The best you can hope for is an orderly contraction. But inevitably there comes a foolish leader who thinks he can restore the empire to its former glory and fails utterly.

We have met the enemy and they is Trump and MAGA (with apologies to Pogo).

Despite Trump's isolationist rhetoric, his underlying promise was that he'd restore the U.S. to the height of its post-WWII dominance on the world stage. Being a man utterly without a sense of history (consider, for example, that "America First" was a slogan perpetuated by pro-German Americans who wanted to keep the U.S. out of WWII) he inevitably was going to fall into the trap of thinking he could project dominance just through military might.

The only surprise to me is that it took this long. But it's not a surprise that he picked the worst possible place in the world -- the Middle East. Not that we'll know, but 500 years from now the tribalism there will still be going on.

It would have been so much better just to have stayed out of it, because he exposed America's soft underbelly. Iran is emboldened because we lack the resources and will to, for example, keep the Strait of Hormuz open. That would have required a ground invasion and even that would have either failed (Afghanistan) or been insanely expensive in lives and money (Iraq) with mixed results.

This MOU will ultimately be meaningless. The fool that is Trump is now hearing it even from GOP congressional sycophants that this is a horrible deal, even from our weakened perspective.

We'll inevitably walk away with out metaphorical tail between our legs.

--
"Somewhere in Middle America"

"The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph seven, with the minimum methodology to be down blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mentioned and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them."

"Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any distinctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region."

And what are the actual and practical implications?

If it were me I'd be demanding war crimes tribunals for all senior American government and military officials. Ah well, can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Announcing peace with Persia on the same day you hold gladiator fights in front of the emperor’s home to celebrate his birthday

It really is like an unconditional surrender by us.

I wonder if his dementia/narcissism blocks him from realizing how bad a deal this is? And what a failure he is? Or do you think he knows?

A mutually beneficial relationship with Iran (opening of the country to US companies, etc., access to resources, assurances that Iran will stop funding terrorist organizations)?

Trump is giving up quite a lot and seemingly securing little. Am I missing anything?