Article by James Ker-Lindsay:
https://www.e-ir.info/2026/03/22/iran-at-war-deterrence-national-identity-and-existential-stakes/
Found this very interesting:
This move has major domestic consequences. The more war is presented as existential, the easier it becomes to justify centralization, exceptionalism, and securitization. War turns into a matrix of legitimacy. The leadership can present itself not simply as the holder of political authority, but as the final barrier against encirclement, chaos, and national fragmentation. In that sense, the existential framing of war is not merely descriptive. It is productive. It creates the political conditions under which compromise becomes suspect and coercive resilience becomes virtue.