With a shaky ceasefire in place between the US, Israel, and Iran, and little progress on talks to resolve the complex issues at the heart of the war, international relations experts warn that the most likely outcome is a frozen conflict.
What is a Frozen Conflict?
A frozen conflict is not static but an unresolved war that continues at a low level below the threshold of full-scale combat. This typically occurs when a comprehensive political agreement cannot be reached, such as the fighting in eastern Ukraine from 2014 until Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. That conflict was considered frozen despite the deaths of some 14,000 military personnel and civilians, along with persistent cyber and information warfare.
Even if negotiations resume this week in Pakistan and an eventual agreement is reached, there are three key reasons why this is heading toward a frozen conflict rather than a comprehensive peace agreement.
1. Trump Equates Ceasefires with an End to War
US President Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy has shown he does not treat ceasefires as pauses for negotiations to agree on substantive political issues. Instead, he declares a ceasefire as a US success and moves on to the next global issue. Trump claims to have ended ten wars, including the current conflict with Iran and Israel's war in Lebanon. However, a closer look reveals that in most of these conflicts, a shaky ceasefire has held while substantive issues remain unresolved. This has left frozen conflicts in place with ongoing tensions. For instance, in India and Pakistan, which engaged in a brief armed conflict last year, there is a continued risk of renewed hostilities. A lasting peace between Thailand and Cambodia after last year's border spats remains elusive. Yet, Trump has walked away from these conflicts and claimed an end to war as soon as major hostilities ceased.
2. Asymmetric Wars Are Difficult to Resolve
The current war is asymmetric due to the huge difference in military strength between the US and Israel on one side, and Iran on the other. Iran has intentionally used asymmetric tactics to counter the US's overwhelming military power, including targeting infrastructure in Persian Gulf countries not involved in the war and closing the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping traffic to disrupt the global economy. Research shows asymmetric wars are inherently protracted and often open-ended. As a result, they are more likely to end in a frozen conflict than an enduring political settlement. The weaker actor cannot win a conventional military battle against the stronger actor, so it tries to exhaust the more powerful nation with political, economic, and psychological pressure, forcing a withdrawal and cessation of hostilities. This is what we are seeing now between the US and Iran. Trump is feeling these rising pressures and is pursuing a ceasefire while trying to claim a US victory. Iran, meanwhile, has agreed to a ceasefire in a bid for survival as the weaker actor, rather than a commitment to an enduring end to the conflict. This is reminiscent of the Taliban in Afghanistan, who survived 20 years in a frozen conflict with the US before taking back control of the country when the US withdrew.
3. No Focus on the More Complex Issues
Neither the US nor Iran appears committed to any long-term resolution of the underlying tensions at the root of the conflict. Key among these is the question of Iran's nuclear program. For Washington, the first round of peace talks in Pakistan on April 11–12 were aborted because Iran refused to compromise on its nuclear program. Iran has long argued it has an inalienable right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. The negotiations that led to the multilateral 2015 deal on Iran's nuclear program—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—took 20 months to conclude. Trump withdrew from the agreement three years later, calling it a "horrible one-sided deal." Given this history, a quick and clear resolution to this complex dispute is unlikely. Some analysts believe the US and Iran could announce a partial agreement that would leave many technical aspects to be ironed out later. But Trump is now facing an opponent that is unlikely to become more accommodating with respect to its long-term "nuclear rights." In fact, Iran has already shown its resolve by asserting a new geostrategic normal, closing the Strait of Hormuz and disrupting the global economy.
What a Frozen Conflict Means for the Region
The Iran-US war may conclude with a series of ceasefires, but will likely remain a frozen conflict due to these underlying tensions. This means more threats from both sides over Iran's nuclear program and periodic flare-ups of violence between Israel and Iran, the US and Iran, or both. This is much like the frozen situation in Gaza. Last October, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire under Trump's 20-point peace plan. The first phase of the plan was then largely implemented, leading to a hostage-prisoner exchange, a decrease in Israel's heavy bombardments of Gaza, and a resumption of aid into the strip. However, there has since been no progress on the more complex questions of post-war governance of Gaza, redevelopment of the strip, and crucially, the disarmament of Hamas fighters. As a result, Israel has refused to completely withdraw its troops and violence has continued.
From a historical perspective, the frozen conflict in the Koreas is also instructive. The war ended with an armistice in 1953 and no peace treaty, effectively leaving North and South Korea at war to this day. This led to the North developing an underground nuclear weapons program that continues to pose a threat to the world. Similarly, the decades-long frozen India-Pakistan conflict has led to an arms race (including the development of nuclear weapons on both sides), instability in South Asia, and periodic flare-ups of violence. A frozen conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran will no doubt create similar long-term instability in the Middle East, including a possible arms race in the Middle East and more flare-ups of violence, particularly around control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Jessica Genauer is an Academic Director, Public Policy Institute at UNSW Sydney. Benedict Moleta is a PhD student in the Department of International Relations at Australian National University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
