President Donald Trump’s war against Iran in alliance with Israel, a war which appears to be stalled as Trump seeks diplomatic off-ramps, is testing old partnerships for the United States. Our alliances can be fairly said to be in flux. But what makes a country a good ally?

At a minimum, a good ally must offer reliability and power, including hard military power, buttressed by softer yet important forms of power (for instance, capabilities in diplomacy and intelligence gathering). Shared values certainly help; common culture and national habits buttress any alliance. Convenient geography must not be underestimated either. But do we need to rethink our alliances?

Some say the answer is “yes.”

Take Mark Dubowitz, for example. CEO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, one of Washington’s most pro-Israel think-tanks, Dubowitz recently suggested jettisoning the U.S.’s legacy alliances. As he put it on X: “Five Eyes was built for another era. We get diminishing value from four partners, and ties with [the United Kingdom] are at a low point. Time to rethink the alliance around those actually delivering intelligence value — Israel, Poland, Ukraine, UAE, Japan, [South Korea] and other serious partners.”

“Five Eyes” is the Anglosphere intelligence alliance dating to World War II, led by the U.S., and includes the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It’s true that Five Eyes is under strain these days, given tensions between Trump and much of the Anglosphere. Still, Dubowitz doesn’t understand the intelligence world. In reality, Five Eyes remains the most powerful intelligence partnership in history. It underpins Washington’s global role in a manner that few Americans understand. Jettisoning the Five........

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