Barometers: When it comes to barometric pressure, by which I mean public morale, it cannot be measured only in terms of cities bombed and enemy leaders assassinated. The Nazi war machine disintegrated when both the German military and the German public sensed beyond doubt that all was lost. The morale behind the Iraq mission came apart the instant it was discovered that Saddam Hussein, the great arch enemy, possessed no weapons of mass destruction. Though the Iran conflict remains young, morale is already aquiver in the United States, which started the war by pointing a finger at Tehran as the latest Evil Empire. Minor seeds of public dissatisfaction are evident, driven mostly by a rise in gas prices and a suspicion that winning the war outright may demand the involvement of U.S. combat troops. Israel, however, remains resolutely pro-war, but even there, the mood is jittery. It has been fighting nonstop since the Gaza attacks of 2023, and some are beginning to tire, another barometric dip. Many have already fled the economically vibrant Emirates, at least for the time being. But most affected, at least subliminally, is Europe, a continent made helpless by the new and belligerent world order, a continent in therapy and on heavy doses of antidepressants. Its young people, by now two generations removed from world war, can no longer imagine what the future holds. The virtuous America portrayed by Hollywood for decades has vanished, as if the Earth below had disappeared from view on a routine flight. Only Iran’s tyrannically rigorous Revolutionary Guard appears to be insulated from drops in morale. War is a mind game. War is a mood. War can make even those remote from the action grow anxious and fear for their sanity. If only boastful leaders cared to pay attention to the world’s plunging pressure, but, alas, they do not.