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section of US President Donald Trump's National Security Strategy (NSS), published three months ago on December 5, 2025, has not aged well. It concerns the Middle East. The document asserts that "the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution" are "thankfully over." The official doctrine of the United States claims that the Middle East is no longer "the constant irritant, and potential source of imminent catastrophe, that it once was," but rather "a place of partnership, friendship and investment." Since February 28, this statement has been far from obvious.
On January 24, the Pentagon drafted another doctrinal document, the National Defense Strategy, which demonstrates greater caution and a less optimistic outlook than the previous NSS. Still, it states that the United States' main ally in the region, Israel, is capable of defending itself with "critical but more limited support" from Washington, and that "in the Gulf, US partners are increasingly willing and able to do more to defend themselves against Iran and its proxies." That now seems a distant reality.
Aside from the brief war in June of 2025, the current conflict is the third conducted in the region by a US president in just under 40 years, given its scale and the means mobilized. The first, aimed at driving Iraq out of Kuwait after its 1990 invasion, was justified by that violation of international law. It was based on a broad coalition and a United Nations (UN) resolution authorizing member states to use "all necessary means" to achieve the set objective. President George H. W. Bush adhered to these limits, sparing dictator Saddam Hussein and his regime in Baghdad.
