The big if in the Israel-Iran standoff

One can only speculate about the outcome of the current Israel-Iran hostilities. The possibilities range from a nuclear disaster to an unexpectedly non-violent resolution. In this column, one can only venture a guess or two.
We have got used to an American hegemon imposing order on the world. The erosion of that hegemony under

Trump

keeps bringing new and nasty surprises. Indian foreign policy has long hoped for multipolarity instead of the bipolarity of the Cold War and US unipolarity after the Soviet collapse. A messy multipolarity is emerging under Donald Trump but has so far spelt chaos rather than improved flexibility for India.