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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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White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy
FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, the CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
The Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said on Saturday.
Boehler, who has been working to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, will continue hostage-related work as a so-called “special government employee,” a position that would not need Senate confirmation.
“Adam Boehler will continue to serve President Trump as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia. He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home.”
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Boehler withdrew his nomination to avoid divesting from his investment company. The move was unrelated to the controversy sparked by his discussions with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
“He still has the utmost confidence of President Trump,” said the official.
“This gives me the best ability to help Americans held abroad as well as work across agencies to achieve President Trump’s objectives,” Boehler told Reuters in a brief statement.
Boehler recently held direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza. The discussions broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as terrorist organizations.
The talks angered some Senate Republicans and some Israeli leaders. According to Axios, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer expressed his displeasure to Boehler in a tense phone call last week.
Boehler was given permission from the Trump administration to engage directly with Hamas, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week, calling the talks a “one-off situation” that had not borne fruit.
Boehler has been credited with helping secure the release of Fogel, a US schoolteacher who was freed by Russia in February after three and a half years in prison.
The post White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Bernard-Henri Lévy, German Officials Bow Out of Israeli Antisemitism Conference
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy addressing the 38th Zionist Congress. Photo: Screenshot.
i24 News – A French intellectual superstar and a pair of German officials announced that they withdrew from a conference on antisemitism organized by the Israeli government, citing the participation of far-right figures in the Jerusalem event.
Iconic thinker Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was set to deliver the conference’s keynote address, opted out upon learning that Marion Marechal and Jordan Bardella from France’s far-right National Rally party were among the other speakers.
Felix Klein, the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Antisemitism, “has decided not to attend,” his representatives told Haaretz.
“He was unaware of the other attendees when he accepted the invitation, and upon learning who the other speakers were, he decided to withdraw.”
Volker Beck, a former Green Party parliamentarian who chairs the Germany-Israel Friendship Society (DIG) also announced he was cancelling his attendance. “If we associate ourselves with extreme right-wing forces, we discredit our common cause; it also goes against my personal convictions and will have a negative impact on our fight against antisemitism within our societies.”
The post Bernard-Henri Lévy, German Officials Bow Out of Israeli Antisemitism Conference first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Kicks Out South Africa’s Hamas-Linked Ambassador
Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
i24 News – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday designated the South African ambassador to Washington Ebrahim Rasool as a Persona Non Grata, branding Rasool a “race-bating politician.”
The decision comes after Rasool made the inflammatory allegation that Trump was “leading global white supremacist” movement.
A known supporter of the genocidal Palestinian group Hamas, Rasool even boasted that he owned a keffiyeh signed by late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
South Africa filed a claim with the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during its ongoing war against Hamas, a charge both Israel and the US regard as slanderous and antisemitic.
The post US Kicks Out South Africa’s Hamas-Linked Ambassador first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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