Too much politics can destroy us

To say that there is so much going on would be such an understatement, with the current situation in Europe and the Middle East. The Iran-Israel conflict is headed towards escalating into a major confrontation, with some defense experts warning that it could spill over to the rest of the region and break into an all-out war as both sides continue to exchange fire. However, there are a few who still believe that the conflict would be confined to the two nations.

Countries such as Jordan had closed their airspace earlier, intercepting incoming Iranian drones and missiles that were at risk of landing on Jordanian territory. “Jordan has not and will not allow any violation of its airspace, reaffirming that the Kingdom will not be a battleground for any conflict,” Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said in an interview.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has expressed concern that the conflict between Israel and Iran could deflect attention from the war with Russia, resulting in slowed down assistance and lessened support from the United States. “No one is claiming to have a relationship more important than America and Israel, but we would like to see that the aid to Ukraine would not be reduced because of this,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

According to Mark Katz, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a professor emeritus of government and politics at the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government, “Russia could potentially benefit from the Israel-Iran conflict, by US attention and support being redirected from Ukraine to Israel, and by the rise in oil prices which provide Moscow with greater resources to fund its war against Ukraine. If the Israel-Iran conflict ends quickly, though, these benefits may not last long.”

Obviously, the whole world is watching the United States and waiting for the next moves of President Trump, who earlier had urged Iranians to immediately evacuate Tehran, triggering speculation that American forces might join Israel in their fight.

The US president has kept everyone guessing, telling reporters “I may do it. I may not do it… nobody knows what I’m going to do.” But last Thursday, he said he was giving a two-week deadline to decide whether to get involved or not, having told his senior aides earlier that he has approved of attack plans against Iran, but was waiting to see if the latter would abandon its nuclear program. “Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place in Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” President Trump said.

European officials meantime are seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict, with foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and the European Union meeting with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday as they “cast the latest diplomacy as an 11th-hour scramble to influence the crisis: to extract greater concessions from Iran, whose position they believe has now been weakened, and to get Trump to back away from his threats of a bombing campaign and suggestions of regime change,” according to the Washington Post.

One of our friends in the defense establishment told me that these latest developments demonstrate the serious commitment of President Trump to bring about security around the world through his defense policy of peace through strength, which focuses on America’s military supremacy to strengthen deterrence against conflict and potential adversaries.

In an article authored by Bob Williams and Dr. James Giordano titled “Determined Nuclear Deterrence Sustains Order” published in November 2024 in the National Defense Magazine, they stated that, “In the current global order, US deterrence arguably remains the most important pillar of nuclear non-use. While legal conventions and inspections provide guardrails, the threat of an assured response to any use of a nuclear weapon cannot be overstated in deterring such an abrogation.”

Williams (an assistant professor at the National Defense University in Washington) and Giordano (a Pellegrino Center Professor at Georgetown University) assert that the US nuclear triad of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic aerial bombers has been “a stalwart deterrent against nuclear war,” referencing President Ronald Reagan’s mantra of “peace through strength.”

An article published last Thursday at the RealClearDefense news site titled “Deterrence: Peace Through Strength Works” written by Peter Huessy asserts that America “relies on deterrence” to protect it from all enemies foreign and domestic, and that the US military, including all five services from the USAF to the Marines and Coast Guard, protects US interests and sovereignty and allies overseas through displays of deterrent forces that give pause to enemies.

Many countries consider deterrence as a strategy to maintain peace by building up their military capabilities and strengthening alliances to discourage potential rivals from starting any conflict. President Trump is in fact encouraging allies in Asia and Europe to build up their military instead of relying solely on US support – which is why now, more than ever, we need to continue with the modernization of our armed forces and rely on our own resources – which received a major boost with the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act.

But more importantly, we need to strengthen our economy because as I have repeatedly said on many occasions, economic security is tied to our national security agenda. Hopefully, our politicians will see the need to work towards our security and strength as a nation – mainly because of the many global challenges we face. There is a saying that too much politics ultimately destroys a nation.

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