A security guard walks along a closed road near the Serena Hotel in Islamabad on April 21, 2026, ahead of anticipated U.S.-Iran peace talks. Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images
The current negotiations between the United States and Iran are being misread as a chaotic exercise in brinkmanship. They are not. They are the predictable endgame of a contest in which leverage has shifted decisively, and in which one side is now negotiating under constraints it can no longer escape.
Bryan Brulotte is chairman of Sterling-Trust, a private equity firm based in Ottawa, Canada. He holds a doctorate in business and brings more than four decades of experience spanning military service and senior roles in the private and public sectors.
