Opinion

TANVI RATNA: With one war, Trump is breaking Middle East's old power structure

Strikes on Iran part of broader strategy to force a regional realignment that decades of US policy deliberately avoided

By Tanvi Ratna Fox News

Published March 29, 2026 3:02pm EDT

Facebook Twitter Threads Flipboard Comments Print Email Add Fox News on Google

close

Video

US, Israel target Iran with military strikes as more US troops arrive in Middle East

U.S. and Israeli forces continue military strikes against Iran as 3,500 additional U.S. troops arrive in the Middle East. Fox News Chief Correspondent Jonathan Hunt reports from Tel Aviv, as Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., weighs in.

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The Middle East is once again on edge as U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure continue. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks. Oil markets have surged, and global shipping lanes are under pressure.

But this is not unfolding like a typical war in the region.

Even as strikes continue, tankers are still moving through the Strait of Hormuz under constrained conditions. Backchannel communications have not collapsed. Key regional players are not fully committing to either escalation or restraint. Instead, they are doing something far more telling: they are adjusting.

That is the first signal that this is not just a military confrontation. It is a system under stress—one that is being deliberately reshaped.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN’S SUCCESSION BENCH WIPED OUT AS ISRAELI STRIKE HITS LEADERSHIP DELIBERATIONS

To understand what is happening now, you have to go back to the system that existed before this moment.

Map from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies showing Iran's missile ranges. (The Foundation for Defense of Democracies)

For nearly two decades, the Middle East operated on a managed equilibrium. After the Iraq War, through the Arab Spring, and into the fight against ISIS, three distinct power structures emerged and learned to coexist without resolving their conflicts.

Shia-dominated Iran built what became known as the "Axis of Resistance," embedding itself across Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. These were not loose proxy relationships. They were institutional footholds—militias integrated into state structures, political actors controlling territory and budgets. Iran’s incentive was clear: expand influence without triggering a direct, overwhelming response. Stay below the threshold of full-scale war while steadily increasing leverage.

TRUMP'S OPERATION EPIC FURY PROVES REAGAN-STYLE PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH IS BACK

Across the Sunni world, there was no unified front to counter this. Saudi Arabia and the UAE pushed for a centralized, state-led regional order, while Turkey and........

© Fox News