OPINION:
President Trump entered office in January with a renewed determination to flex American power and influence in the world. To do that, he prioritized strengthening the American economy, cutting wasteful spending and ending the woke political correctness that has damaged our culture. He has made progress.
Yet another prominent theme in his campaign was ending the violence in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. Both are proving more difficult than he and his team imagined. Mr. Trump also made clear that he would not permit Iran to possess nuclear weapons. However, his administration now faces another challenge: How can the U.S. counter Chinese adventurism and aggression in the Indo-Pacific region? That may prove to be the toughest task before him.
In pursuing national security objectives, it’s best to see things as they are, not as you wish them to be. Americans rightfully agree with Mr. Trump in wishing that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza cease, Iran is denied nuclear weapons, and China minds its own business. Still, as the 17th-century Scottish aphorism asserts, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Wishing will not work. Only the resolve and judicious use of unhesitant American power will persuade Russia, Hamas, Iran and China to act responsibly. Mr. Trump’s desire to advance world peace is wise. Yet the president’s negotiators must embrace a renewed sense of reality to realize his worthy objectives. With Russia, that begins with recognizing its fundamental negotiating principle: What is mine is mine and what is yours is negotiable. The Russians, even in their Soviet days, are stalwart in that position. They dabble in negotiations only when it suits their purpose, preferring to wait until their adversaries relent and settle on a position favorable to Russia. For them, compromise is something others do to Russia’s satisfaction.
In pursuing that end, the Russians maneuver to get their negotiating opposites to deliberate among themselves until, once weary, the latter settles on a proposal acceptable to Russia. We see that in the stalled diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine. That will not change until the U.S. imposes maximum pressure on the country, including denying Moscow the benefit of participating in international banking while fully impairing Russia’s ability to sell oil abroad. We have not done that adequately.
With Hamas in Gaza, Israel has taken the only realistic action: a full-scale effort to destroy the terrorist thugs that massacred innocent Jews on Oct. 7, 2023. There is no hopeful theorizing in their strategy, just existential reckoning. That is precisely what must be done when dealing with Iran. The terror mullahs in Tehran expect the U.S. to, once again, settle on a nuclear deal that preserves Iran’s ability to enrich uranium. After years of deception and hegemonic aggression in the Middle East, Iran has proved itself completely untrustworthy. It is time to make it clear that unless Tehran relents now, the resolve in dealing with Hamas will be unleashed on Iran. We must see things as they are. Anything short of that will fail.
Finally, what must the U.S. do to resolve the situation in the Indo-Pacific region? First, we must clearly see that, like Russia, Hamas and Iran, China has a penchant for mendacity. It is untrustworthy. Yet we must deal with it as a major economic power in the world. The Trump administration has not been Pollyannaish in dealing with China. The administration rightly sees that country as a threat to peace in the Indo-Pacific, and it is strengthening our military posture to deter aggression. That will require a strong forward-deployed military presence in the region to send an unambiguous message to China that the U.S. will not retreat from our obligations to our allies or national interest in promoting peace. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said as much recently, but that can happen only if we are strong. Rhetoric means nothing to China. Only cold, steely resolve gets its attention.
In the months ahead, will Russia change its posture on Ukraine? Will the destruction of Hamas be complete? Will Iran’s nuclear threats be eliminated? Will China end its increasingly threatening behavior toward Taiwan and its hostile adventurism throughout the Indo-Pacific region? These are open questions.
Answering all of them depends on the extent to which the U.S. sees things as they are and uses its diplomacy, information and military and economic power to effectively influence the behavior of malevolent actors who seem bent on threatening the world order.
Our adversaries understand one thing: the judicious and persuasive wielding of power. Wishing will not suffice. If that tenuous notion dominates our efforts to compel an end to war and aggression, we will have mounted a horse that will carry us nowhere.
• L. Scott Lingamfelter was an Army colonel and combat veteran from 1973 to 2001 and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2018. He is the author of “Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War” (University Press of Kentucky, 2020) and “Yanks in Blue Berets: American UN Peacekeepers in the Middle East” (UPK, 2023).