The article explores the growing challenges to American influence and its effect on the security strategies of its allies. With Washington’s reach diminishing, the United States is no longer able to provide the level of protection that once shielded its close allies. As a result, countries like Israel, which has long depended on US backing, are now finding themselves in a precarious position. Despite extensive diplomatic ties with many neighbors, Israel is unable to resolve its core problems without the use of force, and its intelligence capabilities are more suited to warfare than diplomacy.
The Middle East, once considered an easy theater for American power, is becoming increasingly volatile, with Arab states and Iran failing to achieve the unified front needed to address Israel’s survival threats. Meanwhile, Europe and Asia face similar challenges, with Japan and South Korea contemplating nuclear options due to their growing reliance on Washington. The article suggests that as the US can no longer impose order abroad, its allies must increasingly provide for themselves, leading to a more regionalized and unstable international order.
For Israel, this means greater isolation, even as it clings tighter to US patronage. For Europe, it means the exposure of NATO’s guarantees as paper-thin. For Asia, it means the emergence of nuclear independence among Washington’s allies. In every case, the choice for the United States grows more difficult. Its allies are no longer safe wards, but dangerous burdens. As they adjust to survival on their own terms, the distorted picture of the past half-century may finally give way to a world of genuine balances – violent, unstable, but less dependent on illusions.