Can killing a regime’s leadership bring down the regime itself? In an analysis published in The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, Anand Toprani, Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Dillon Prochnicki, Research Assistant at the same think tank, take on this thorny question in depth. From Athens after Pericles to the Soviet Union after Stalin, from China after Mao to Nazi Germany after Hitler, and all the way to Iran after the 2026 strikes, their analysis revisits key lessons from ancient and modern history — and raises a crucial question: when the head of a regime is removed, what truly determines whether the body survives?
If the Head Falls, Does the Regime Follow?
by
May 2026
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