Opinion: Trump’s military doctrine is insular, with short military commitments

2026-03-02 - 11:13

Over the past several months, the Trump administration has employed military force to spectacular effect — against Iranian nuclear facilities, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and Boko Haram targets in Nigeria. Many observers have interpreted these events as an escalating cycle of force by the White House, one that will inevitably reach Greenland and ultimately Canada. Such fears are understandable given the administration's inflammatory rhetoric, but the record suggests something quite different. The common thread connecting these operations is not escalation, but political opportunism: applying force only where the political and military costs appear low, in pursuit of quick wins that serve a limited foreign policy agenda. Read More