Delano D’Souza is pleased to welcome Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics at the University College Dublin. Lucas argues that the centre of gravity has fundamentally shifted. And he highlights the growing divergence between American diplomatic objectives, Israeli territorial ambitions, and Iranian efforts to secure economic recovery after a devastating conflict. Rather than depicting the current ceasefire as a pathway towards peace, Lucas characterises it as an unstable equilibrium sustained by mutual restraint, unresolved ambitions, and competing visions of regional order.