The unending chaos of the second Trump presidency raises legitimate questions about the continued utility of a security partnership with the US. Despite everything, though, the answer to whether the US is still a useful strategic partner is yes—and the reason is equally simple: for many states, including India, there is no other choice. They face threats and challenges that they cannot counter alone, and the US is best positioned to help, for two reasons. First, only the US is strong enough to counter these threats. Second, it is in the US’ own interests to counter these threats, making for a happy coincidence of self-interest. Power and self-interest are the basis for the answer, nothing else.
This is the reason why countries as diverse as Ukraine, Israel, Japan, and Australia—along with India and many others—still seek American support. Many of these countries resent their dependence on the US but want it nevertheless. International politics is largely driven by the selfish interests of states, which means that their need for external help puts them at the major disadvantage of being dependent on the self-interest of others. The US is not an easy partner, but that difficulty is not unique to the US—it is a condition of dependence itself.
Even for Israel—reputed to have a lock on US foreign policy through the Lobby—things aren’t easy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is thought to have a particularly good equation with US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu is intensely disliked within much of the Democratic Party, especially its liberal and left factions, due to what is seen as Israel’s excessively violent and indiscriminate response to the horrendous October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and the kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians. This, and a degree of ideological affinity, appears to have made Netanyahu think that he had some special equation with Trump. But the initially strong Trump support has now turned into impatience with Israel’s continuing war, and pressure on Israel to conclude it. Trump visited the region without stopping in Israel. Instead, he dined with the Qatari leadership, one of the main sponsors of Hamas terrorists, receiving a Jumbo Jet as a return gift. Similarly, after launching attacks on Iran-backed Houthis, Trump has now apparently decided to stop, even as Houthi missiles continue raining down on Israel. Now, Trump is negotiating what appears to be a new nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s arch-nemesis in the region. Though Trump, with typical hyperbole, once called the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal “the worst deal ever”, the current negotiations appear to be along similar lines, despite Israeli opposition. And Trump has refused to join the Israeli strikes against Iran nukes, much to Netanyahu’s displeasure. That displeasure is pointless, though. The real point is that Israel has no choice but the US. And this is a country that possesses nuclear weapons to ensure, at a minimum, national survival.
