India, Aug. 3 -- As the conflict with Iran grows longer, costlier, and more uncertain, Trump confronts a paradox familiar to many wartime leaders: the very instincts that brought him to power may now stand in the way of securing a lasting peace

Donald Trump has built his political identity around a simple and powerful message, i.e., he is the leader who gets things done. He has often spoken in a triumphant, even imperious, tone about his own abilities and about his promise to 'Make America Great Again.' Whatever one's political views, his political comeback represented a remarkable defiance of conventional expectations. Many scholars, commentators, public officials, and voices from across the ideological spectrum had warned that his retu...