As American and Chinese negotiators met in Paris this weekend ahead of Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, events thousands of miles away are quietly redefining the strategic landscape. Many have missed just how the war unfolding between the United States, Israel and Iran is not merely a Middle Eastern conflict, but part of a much wider contest over power, ideology and the future balance of the international system. But Operation Epic Fury could have as big an effect on China, Europe and the future of Western civilisation as it will on the Middle East itself.

In the just over two weeks since the United States and Israel launched their joint war against Iran, a curious chorus has emerged in parts of the media and political commentariat. Critics insist that Trump has no strategy at all.

They argue variously that he has been blindsided by a sophisticated and resilient Iranian regime which has outsmarted him, that he acted rashly, or that he launched a war without any coherent plan for how to prosecute it or bring it to an end. At the same time, others claim the opposite: that he hesitated too long, amassing forces in the region for weeks without acting, only then being forced to strike for fear of projecting weakness by withdrawing.

To his critics, the US President is both reckless and paralysed, impulsive and confused, simultaneously overambitious and unclear about what he actually wants. Trump is accused of pursuing grandiose and unrealistic goals while also being vague and sheepish about his objectives. He is denounced for American bullying and cultural supremacy, yet in the same breath, he is accused of being dragged unwillingly into the war by Israel.

The reality is far less theatrical. For all his crude trash talk, his unorthodox appearance, and his sometimes........

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