In the United States, Democrats are focused on domestic issues. However, the electoral defeat in 2024 and Donald Trump’s incidents around the world—including the recent one in Iran on Saturday—also force them to reflect on what an alternative foreign policy would look like. Former advisor on these issues to Senator Bernie Sanders, Matthew Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy think tank, is one of the influential voices in the progressive camp.
The U.S. and Israel have launched a war aimed at regime change in Iran. This is an act of aggression, one of the most serious violations of international law. There is no plausible argument that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and the administration barely attempted to argue that. It is a chosen, illegal, and unnecessary war that puts millions of people at risk across the Middle East, including tens of thousands of American soldiers. Unfortunately, this war is the culmination of decades of militaristic foreign policy, which Donald Trump had promised to end.
