One clear, central message came out of U.S. President Donald Trump's comprehensive speech to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, and that message pertained to the two central threats to regional and global stability he has faced from the moment he took office: North Korea and Iran.
Trump's approach has been to show determination in the face of both these threats by imposing escalating economic sanctions and politically isolating his defiant opponents' to put a crack in their armor. Indeed, that is exactly what happened on the North Korean front, when "little rocket man" Kim Jong Un seemingly decided to abandon his belligerent path, and in one stroke, put an end to nuclear testing, saber-rattling and rocket launches.
Although the path to Pyongyang's denuclearization remains long, the process of reconciling with the United States has already borne fruit, as the regional environment, until recently rife with tensions, is now relaxed beyond recognition. Trump has nevertheless made it clear that until this process is successfully completed, the United States will make no gestures or unilateral concessions and economic sanctions on North Korea will remain in place.
And yet, despite what is seen by many as a successful American strategy on one recalcitrant regime, Tehran continues to challenge American leadership and global order through its nuclear aspirations and low-intensity warfare, the latter of which it continues to engage in both indirectly and through various proxies with the aim of sowing destruction throughout the entire Middle East.
Just as Kim was the first to blink and pull back from the abyss when faced with the uncompromising stance of the American hegemon, so too will the ayatollah regime eventually wave the white flag of surrender. This is the essence of the matter. It is only a fearless willingness on behalf of the American superpower to face belligerent regimes like North Korea and Iran head on that can lay the framework for the establishment of a more stable world.
As the Middle East's sole democracy and the United States' loyal ally, as well as the central target of Iranian terrorism and threats of annihilation, Israel also has a role to play in the struggle against Tehran.
Thus, the American commitment to Israel's security against the background of the Iranian nuclear threat was explicitly integrated into the broader context of U.S. policy in the region and the White House's determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons at any cost.
And so, unlike the eight years of weakness that characterized the presidency of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, we now have direct and unequivocal statements designed to deter opponents while providing security and inspiration to allies like Israel.
In an era when, as Trump put it, the guiding principle in the international system is supposed to be state sovereignty and self-reliance, not loyalty to transnational frameworks, we are now bearing witness to the strengthening of partnerships and the sense of solidarity between the U.S. and Israel, which is based on mutual affection and shared values.
