The U.S. has demonstrated that for all its military technology and infrastructure, it is not able to project power decisively in the Middle East anymore, even against states with minimal military backing from imperialist powers. The international geopolitical calculus that presumed U.S. military superiority around the world has been destroyed, and the U.S. military will be flat-footed in its responses to challenges going forward as it tries to overcome the very public munitions deficit that it just created itself.