The audacious mission to take out Iran’s leader underscored US President Donald Trump’s brand of foreign policy, defined by unpredictability and a willingness to disregard longstanding norms, analysts said.
Trump has embraced unilateral uses of force — including the once-taboo targeting of heads of state, a Harvard professor noted — to achieve his foreign policy goals.
He’s also bucked a long-held strategy that Washington should only enter war with clear objectives and an exit strategy, a foreign policy analyst said: “Instead Trump has preserved the flexibility to adapt based on how things unfold.”
As Trump moves to reshape the Middle East’s regional order, the strikes leave China and Russia — Iran’s key partners — with little power to influence events on the ground.