Leon Panetta, former CIA director and Defense Secretary under Obama, sat down with Politico to assess the interlocking crises in Iran, Ukraine, and what he frames as a new global power struggle, according to a Politico video published May 8, 2026. The full transcript is not publicly available, but Panetta's core argument — as summarized — is that Iran, Russia, and allied revisionist powers are moving in coordinated fashion while U.S. strategy remains fractured.
The strategic read is straightforward: Panetta is one of the few figures with operational credibility across both Democratic administrations and the intelligence community. When he uses language like 'global power struggle,' that's not punditry — it's a former SECDEF signaling to institutional actors that the window for deterrence is closing.
Who benefits from the ambiguity? Not NATO. Not Ukraine. The axis does.