‘NATO distances itself from Trump’s Iran strategy’

This is apropos a letter to the Editor titled ‘NATO distances itself from Trump’s Iran strategy’ carried by the newspaper yesterday. The European Union’s position, echoed in NATO’s clarification, suggested a deeper calculation: if Europe were to endorse a unilateral American strike on Iran, it would forfeit any moral and legal standing to resist similar assertions of power elsewhere, even in regions closer to home. Sovereignty, once surrendered as a principle, becomes difficult to reclaim as a shield.

Washington’s strategic calculus, meanwhile, appeared to rest on a familiar framework of pressure. The first instrument is financial: the architecture of global lending, credit, and currency flows, dominated by institutions and mechanisms where American influence remains formidable. The second is economic: sanctions that can choke trade, freeze assets, and isolate entire economies. The third is military: a vast and technologically unmatched force, often deployed against states that lack comparable power. Critics argue that this triad has been used not merely to deter aggression but to compel compliance, especially among smaller or more vulnerable nations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026