The conflict in Iran is being handled incorrectly

Several months after the Feb. 28 strikes began the war in Iran, we stand at the crossroads of finishing a war or conceding the public perception of the exceptionalism of our armed forces. Our nation finds itself at the center of an international legal conundrum in which the world will determine who reigns supreme — the hegemony or a consortium of states which oppose the actions of the hegemony. Unfortunately, this appears to be a losing battle for us, despite the weakened Iranian Revolutionary Guard. 

The strikes in Iran have been justified by the State Department as a result of repeated Iranian provocations and attacks on United States forces over the past 12 years. In a March letter to the United Nations Security Council, Ambassador Michael G. Waltz stated the following reason for the timing of the strikes undertaken by the U.S.:

“Since June 2025, the regime has also massively expanded its ballistic missile production for the purpose of overwhelming regional air defenses in order to provide a shield for its efforts to reconstitute its nuclear program, which it refuses to relinquish.â€

The same letter continues to allege that over 100 attacks against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq over the last four years have been executed by proxies of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  

If we are to assume that attacks against U.S. personnel and territory were perpetrated by proxies of the IRGC, as U.S. intelligence agencies appear to believe they were, then anti-Iranian action is necessary from nearly any understanding of justice. While U.S. action against Iran was justified, many argue that the U.S. went too far in its attempts to limit Iranian power. Notably, both sides have caused large numbers of civilian deaths with airstrikes, including the deaths of hundreds of children who died in a mistargeted strike on Feb. 28 by U.S. forces according to AP News.  

With the understanding that some sort of anti-Iran retaliation was necessary, the back-and-forth strikes carried out between the U.S. and Iran will contribute to continued regional instability. Already, dozens of neighboring countries have been drawn into the conflict. Concomitant with these strikes, the U.S.' NATO and Middle Eastern allies (with the exception of Israel) have largely refused the U.S. military services and aid, with the most notable example being Spain's refusal to allow U.S. forces access to joint military bases according to Reuters.

The actions of the U.S. in Iran, which have further estranged the U.S. from its allies, have challenged the international system in a time-tested manner. The U.S. has maintained its international status through the grace of its allies which, with open arms, accepted a global economic hierarchy imposed by the U.S. and protected by mutual interests, assurances and American military force. With increased pressure to support U.S. action in the Middle East, the willingness of U.S. allies to accept American hegemony may begin to erode. 

For the same reason that states formed opposition to British hegemony in the early days of World War I, America's push-and-pull tactics towards its allies and beneficiaries may further the deterioration of global American power. President Trump's forcefulness in making allies work alongside him in Iran may be just another step in the downward journey that America's global footprint has taken. Furthermore, the actions Trump has taken against the countries that refuse to help him, like his threats to cut off trade with Spain, have further alienated the U.S. from international alliances. 

Ultimately, U.S. global involvement in recent years and in the Iran case has led the U.S.' global position to remain in question. Whether international law, a relatively new concept, or the power of global hegemony will reign supreme (which has been debated for decades) appears closer to being determined now than it has in any previous moment in modern history. Regardless of the result of this challenge, may these United States be blessed by the freedom which the rest of the planet looks to them for.