Military Force Will Not Help the People of Iran

"The President and other senior officials have offered mixed messages on the purpose of military threats, suggesting goals ranging from the protection of protesters, the possibility of regime change, ... and the need to reassert U.S. credibility. Such varied aims leave the strategic objectives of a potential strike unclear—and raise the risk that military action becomes a substitute for strategy. Moreover, military tools are unlikely to achieve any of these objectives, and may only make the situation worse," Burkle Center Senior Fellow Dalia Dassa Kaye writes in a new article in Just Security.

Published: Friday, January 16, 2026