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The US Must Return to a Muscular Foreign Policy
Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released Nov. 20, 2023. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org – Much ink has been spilled over the recent Houthi attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and U.S. infrastructure in the Middle East. But not enough people are asking the right question: Why are these attacks occurring in the first place?
Since the first day of the Biden administration, the U.S. has shifted from a muscular foreign policy to one based on soft power. The administration de-listed the Houthis as a terrorist group, promised to restart negotiations on a new Iran nuclear deal and executed a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. In addition, the White House decided to move away from traditional U.S. allies in the region. For example, during the 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden promised to make American ally Saudi Arabia a “pariah.”
The administration’s foreign policy has had disastrous results on a global scale. For the first time since World War II, we have a major land war raging in Europe; Israel has suffered the worst terror attack in its history, committed by an Iranian proxy; as noted above, the Houthis are directly attacking world trade; and Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has just fired a missile that struck very close to the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq.
Biden’s soft power strategy is simply a continuation of the Obama administration’s foreign policy, which was also a disastrous failure. For example, in 2012, President Barack Obama made his famous “red-line” threat to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, saying military action would follow any use of poison gas against Syrian civilians. Assad went on to gas his citizens and Obama did nothing in response. Assad correctly realized he could do more or less whatever he wanted and proceeded to flout the U.S. in the Syrian civil war that rages to this day.
Under President Donald Trump, this failed policy changed. When the Iranians fired missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq, Trump had IRGC head and arch-terrorist Qassem Soleimani assassinated. The media and foreign policy establishments wrung their collective hands, shrieking that this would destabilize the entire Middle East. Needless to say, it didn’t. In fact, Soleimani’s execution and Trump’s unequivocal support for Israel and the Saudis backed Iran into a corner. Under Trump, the Iranians never mustered a response to the Soleimani assassination because of the simple fear that the U.S. and its allies in the region would take drastic action in response.
This foreign policy doctrine also enabled the effective use of soft power. In particular, it resulted in the Abraham Accords. Once thought to be impossible, the U.S. was able to negotiate normalization agreements between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors. This realigned the Middle East in a manner that placed even more pressure on the Iranian regime.
Trump’s foreign policy was one of the most successful aspects of his presidency. Yet the media kept telling its audience that Trump would lead the U.S. to the brink of war. In fact, his muscular approach made war less likely. No such conflicts broke out, Iran was deterred and Russia did not invade any of its neighbors for the first time since President George H.W. Bush was in office.
If it wants to reverse the Biden administration’s failures, the U.S. must start flexing its muscles again. This does not demand American boots on the ground, as Trump’s success demonstrated. Nonetheless, the only effective tools of foreign policy are strength and deterrence. To keep ourselves and our allies secure, we must return to that policy by abandoning appeasement and fear.
The post The US Must Return to a Muscular Foreign Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.