Donald Trump is not a big believer in alliances or the mutuality principle. Life for him is a zero-sum game of winners and losers. That’s the thinking behind his tariff and security policies, as well as his latest outbursts at allies including Australia for not helping in the war.

He has lashed out at allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific because he was frustrated by the course of the war. He never intended for allies and partners to be co-opted so did not brief them or formally request assistance. He thought America and Israel could go it alone – likely because he did not want the headache of having to coordinate operations with coalition partners for the perceived marginal benefit of their contributions.

The call for partners to reopen the strait of Hormuz is not realistic in war-like conditions without the military backing of the US. It would be highly fraught and require boots on the ground in the face of Iranian resistance. Most countries, predictably, would prefer to pay the toll being exacted by the Iranians. But a strait controlled by Iran for the longer term will not look like a US victory to the rest of the world.

The global order is now in the rearview mirror.........

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