When Empires Stop Building: The Iran War and the End of American Soft Power | Bruno Maçães
Hidden Forces
Demetri Kofinas
4.8 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 467 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Bruno Maçães — geopolitical strategist, former Minister of European Affairs for Portugal, and author of World Builders — about the Iran War, what it reveals about the Trump administration's strategic logic, and how the decision to initiate what may prove to be the most expansive American-led war in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq is reshaping the global order.
Kofinas and Maçães examine the competing explanations for why the campaign was launched when it was — from the argument that Washington was drawn into the conflict by Israel, to the question of whether Trump's own instincts and political calculations were the decisive factor — including a close reading of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's public comments about the role Israel played in precipitating American military involvement.
They also discuss what Washington and Tel Aviv's strategic visions may be for the post-conflict order, the fractures emerging within Trump's own political base, and how early battlefield developments are already complicating the administration's attempts to construct a coherent narrative around the war.
The conversation closes with a broader assessment of where this conflict fits within Bruno's framework of world building and American decline — how the United States appears to be abandoning soft power in favor of unbridled military force, what that shift signals to capitals around the world, and why Beijing may be the most important audience of all for everything that is now unfolding.
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Episode Recorded on 03/04/2026
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What's up, everybody? My name is Demetri Gaffinus, and you're listening to Hidden Forces, |
| 0:06.1 | a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens, to challenge consensus narratives |
| 0:13.1 | and learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world. |
| 0:18.3 | My guest in this episode of Hidden Forces is Bruno Masaij, a geopolitical |
| 0:22.3 | strategist and the former Minister of European Affairs for Portugal, whose latest book titled |
| 0:28.0 | World Builders explores the intersection of technology and geopolitics. This is a special, |
| 0:34.3 | abbreviated episode, one of several I'm publishing in quick succession |
| 0:37.8 | to capture the views of different guests on the rapidly unfolding U.S. and Israeli military |
| 0:43.3 | campaign against Iran. |
| 0:45.3 | In the conversation that follows, Bruno and I discuss the ongoing bombing campaign initiated |
| 0:50.7 | by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic following the breakdown of negotiations over the country's nuclear program, |
| 0:57.8 | including a conversation about why it happened, Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments about the role Israel played in precipitating America's involvement, |
| 1:06.4 | and the degree to which Trump's own instincts and political calculus shaped the decision to assassinate |
| 1:11.8 | the country's leader and initiate what may prove to be the most destructive American-led war |
| 1:16.9 | the region has seen since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We also discuss what Washington and Tel Aviv's |
| 1:23.7 | strategic visions may be for what comes after, the fractures within Trump's own |
| 1:28.2 | political base, and how early battlefield developments are already complicating the administration's |
| 1:34.0 | attempts to establish a coherent narrative. |
| 1:37.1 | Lastly, we discuss where this conflict fits within Bruno's framework of world-building and |
| 1:42.0 | American decline, how the United States appears to be abandoning |
| 1:45.4 | soft power in favor of unbridled military force, and how this plays out in capitals around the |
| 1:51.3 | world, especially in Beijing. If you want access to the transcripts and intelligence reports |
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