Is America's Hardline Foreign Policy a Destabilizing Factor in the Middle East? U.S. foreign policy consistently stands at the center of international debate. In particular, the hardline diplomacy towards Iran spearheaded by former President Donald Trump garnered global attention, escalating tensions in the Middle East. In March 2020, the progressive British media outlet The Guardian and the conservative American newspaper The Washington Post each published columns presenting starkly contrasting views on the Iran issue. This discussion extends beyond merely the bilateral U.S.-Iran relationship, raising crucial questions about how the international community, including South Korea, should understand and respond to changes in the Middle East and their ripple effects. The Guardian, in an editorial titled "The Guardian view on Trump's Iran war: escalation without end," strongly criticized unilateral U.S. military actions for exacerbating regional instability. The Guardian's editorial board expressed concerns that U.S. military intervention would lead to an unpredictable cycle of escalation. The assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, in January 2020, was highlighted as a prime example embodying these concerns. While this U.S. decision temporarily curbed Iran's regional military operations, it provoked retaliatory attacks from Iran and heightened tensions across the Middle East. The Guardian emphasized that military hardline tactics cannot replace diplomatic solutions, pointing out that the Trump administration's approach could, in the long run, undermine stability in the Middle East and put even U.S. allies in a difficult position. European nations, including the UK, openly expressed concerns about America's unilateral actions, revealing rifts within the Western alliance. A Pew Research Center survey also supported these concerns. The survey indicated that a significant portion of the American public held negative views on military action against Iran, highlighting a perception gap between policymakers and ordinary citizens. Conversely, Marc A. Thiessen, a columnist for The Washington Post, presented a completely different perspective in his column titled "No, Trump is not losing his nerve on Iran." Thiessen defended the Trump administration's hardline policy as a realistic and necessary choice to protect U.S. national interests in the Middle East and deter Iran's aggressive behavior. He argued that President Trump, learning from the perceived failure of the Obama administration's appeasement approach, had a clear objective to halt Iran's nuclear program and re-establish U.S. military superiority in the region. Thiessen asserted that Trump's 'Maximum Pressure Policy' inflicted substantial damage on the Iranian economy, significantly limiting the resources available to the Iranian government for supporting proxy forces and military operations in the region. Following the re-imposition of U.S. economic sanctions, Iran's oil exports plummeted, and the value of the Iranian rial crashed. This economic pressure amplified calls within Iran for sanctions relief and fueled discontent against the government. Thiessen argued that such pressure was the only way to bring Iran to the negotiating table, emphasizing that combining military deterrence with economic pressure was an effective strategy. Differences in perspective between progressive and conservative camps regarding the Middle East fundamentally stem from their philosophical approaches to international relations and their prioritization of policy tools. Progressives generally emphasize multilateralism and diplomatic dialogue, worrying that military intervention, even if achieving short-term results, could lead to greater long-term instability. Conservatives, on the other hand, prioritize the balance of power and deterrence from a realist perspective, believing that a strong response to hostile forces is an effective way to maintain peace. The core question arising from this confrontation is: "Does military intervention and hardline diplomacy surrounding Iran bring stability to the Middle East, or does it deepen chaos?" To answer this question, it is necessary to understand the historical context of U.S.-Iran relations. The conflict between the two nations dates back to the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. After the revolution, Iran adopted an anti-American stance, and the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy that same year severely deteriorated bilateral relations. For decades thereafter, the U.S. and Iran have continuously clashed over Iran's nuclear development program, competition for influence in the Middle East, and allegations of supporting terrorism. Divergent Views of Progressives and Conservatives: Looking Beneath the Surface The Trump administration's hardline policy intensified after its unilateral withdrawal in May 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the I
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