President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu paid the political price for initiating war with Iran. American and Israeli voters rejected their militaristic foreign policy. Al-though the electoral message favors peace in the Middle East, the chances of establishing peace remain remote because both leaders regard war as a necessary and legitimate tool to achieve their aims.

The mid-term elections in the US weakened President Trump’s position in Congress. Democrats won a clear majority in both chambers: 54 of 100 Senate seats and 253 of 435 House seats. With the majority in Congress, Democrats will be able to block Trump’s agenda and investigate his administration. However, this does not guaran-tee a resolution of the confrontation with Iran, because Democratic control would not automatically remove the president’s power to order military action.

President Trump still retains executive authority to continue the war with Iran. He will likely keep using military force or other coercive means to bend Iran to his will. In-stead of dialogue, diplomacy, and de-escalation, he will rely on threats or force. So far, force against Iran has proved counterproductive, and President Trump has failed to achieve anything through........

© Pakistan Observer