It seems that in his utterly failed and utterly stupid (oh, and hideously expensive[1]) war on Iran, Donald Trump may well have stumbled into a much wider and messier war, now covering geography from Lebanon and the Occupied Territories (via Israel), to Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, and to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.[2]
Most of it is the old game of nations, with the U.S. having tied a knot with Israel, and both at war with Iran; Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi against Iran in Yemen;[3] and most of those countries vying for influence on the other side of the Red Sea in Africa.[4] The latest headline is over the Houthis (of Yemen) striking Riyadh’s airport (Saudi Arabia), killing 12 and injuring over 300 people. Trump is thinking about getting involved.[5]
And why, you might very well ask, are the Saudis at war with the Houthis? It’s the usual nonsense, familiar from Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, about security: “We” have the “right” to control what happens in lands that are not sovereign to “us” because “we” think it poses a “threat” to “us.”[6] In other words, other countries’ sovereignty has no meaning.
Which is to say that a major foundation of international law, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648,[7] no longer matters.
This, of course, makes no sense: If the Peace of Westphalia no longer holds, and the result were held equally by all nations, than the U.S. would no longer have any right to object to, for example, in conservative framing, the “invasion” of criminal rapist “illegal aliens” over its southern border. But “we” have sovereignty. “Our” putative allies have sovereignty. So “we” can object.
But Panama had no right to object when the U.S. invaded to kidnap Manuel Noriega and try him. And Venezuela had no right to object when the U.S. invaded to kidnap Nicolás Maduro and try him. Because their sovereignty doesn’t matter.
It’s entirely arbitrary. I may think a woman beautiful. That matters. She might find me old, ugly, and fat (which I am). That doesn’t matter. I should have my way with her anyway. Which is toxic manosphere thinking. It’s Trump-thinking in too many places to count. It’s Putin-thinking in Ukraine and, increasingly, the rest of Europe. It was George H. W. Bush-thinking with Panama. It was George W. Bush-thinking with Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s the way of thinking behind every proxy war everywhere at any time.
It’s entirely asinine. And when you tie up all the connections, it gets the U.S into a much wider war than Trump thought he getting into.[8]
[1] Yashraj Sharma, “Dozens of aircraft, hundreds of buildings: US loss to Iran attacks revealed,” Al Jazeera, September 15, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/9/15/dozens-of-aircraft-hundreds-of-buildings-us-loss-to-iran-attacks-revealed; Harry Thompson, “Jaw-Dropping Scale of Trump’s Secret Military Losses Is Exposed,” Daily Beast, October 7, 2026, https://www.thedailybeast.com/jaw-dropping-scale-of-trumps-secret-military-losses-is-exposed
[2] Alan Boswell, “The New Red Sea Wars,” Foreign Affairs, October 6, 2026, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/new-red-sea-wars
[3] Straits Times, “What’s happening in Yemen, and why are Saudi Arabia and the UAE involved?” January 8, 2026, https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/explainer-whats-happening-in-yemen-and-why-are-saudi-arabia-and-the-uae-involved
[4] Alan Boswell, “The New Red Sea Wars,” Foreign Affairs, October 6, 2026, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/new-red-sea-wars
[5] Samy Magdy and Cara Anna, “Attack on Riyadh airport killed 12 people and wounded over 300 more, Saudi authorities say,” Associated Press, October 10, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/saudi-yemen-houthi-riyadh-airport-f0e0e6105f33400e37bb20bb9a8130af
[6] Straits Times, “What’s happening in Yemen, and why are Saudi Arabia and the UAE involved?” January 8, 2026, https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/explainer-whats-happening-in-yemen-and-why-are-saudi-arabia-and-the-uae-involved
[7] Attorneys.media, “International Law: From Ancient Treaties to Today,” February 9, 2026, https://attorneys.media/international-law-from-ancient-treaties-to-today/
[8] Alan Boswell, “The New Red Sea Wars,” Foreign Affairs, October 6, 2026, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/new-red-sea-wars