A few days after New Year’s 2020, my phone pinged with a news alert: The United States had killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike. I was still on Christmas holiday with my wife, and we were at dinner with friends. At the time I was deep into a book project, a collaboration with retired Admiral James Stavridis, the former commander of the North American Treaty Organization. As our table discussed the news of Soleimani’s death, my phone rang. I excused myself from the conversation, saying simply, “It’s the admiral.” This elicited several serious looks, as I would surely now hear the straight scoop on what this strike meant for our country and perhaps the world.
But that’s not exactly what happened. “Well,” said the admiral as I answered his call. “This completely screws up our second chapter.”
