It is far too early to be able to definitively analyze the significance of the war with Iran. But it already seems clear that Iran’s military denouement is only part of the story, even if a major one. To be sure, Iran’s neighbors will no longer have to be constantly looking over their shoulders in fear of a predatory Iran dedicated to exporting revolution, and instead be able to focus on economic and technological development in cooperation with Israel and others. And certainly, military cooperation among those states could be counted on to keep everyone there honest.
But it is crucial to keep in mind that we will very likely also see the end – or at least a sustained pausing – of the recent trajectory of global Islam. Indeed, the recently departed Khamenei’s vision, apparently, extended beyond territorial proxy wars. He viewed the Islamic Republic of Iran as the vanguard of a global Islamic awakening. By pouring billions of dollars into foreign cultural centers, proxy militias, and radical clerics worldwide, he weaponized the faith and successfully mainstreamed a militant anti-Western, anti-Zionist theology, positioning Iranian-backed political Islam as the inevitable victor in a clash of civilizations.
But both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu recognized that the traditional Western diplomatic approach – appeasement, nuclear deals, and localized ceasefires – only nurtured Khamenei’s imperial project. They concluded that the only way to secure the West and ensure Israel’s survival was to dismantle the Iranian network at its roots.
So, as we see it, both leaders had more than a concern for the Iranian military threat on their minds and were bent on nothing less than derailing a renewed push for a return of Islamic imperialism.
We should soon get more clarity as the story of the war unfolds.