Riley Moore
President Trump’s recent strike on Iran provides a model for America’s future military engagement around the world—balancing strategic interests with industrial capacity and political will.
On June 22nd, the United States Air Force and Navy conducted “Operation Midnight Hammer” against three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
President Donald Trump’s bold and successful strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities put America First foreign policy on full display—defending against a specific threat to American national security with precision and restraint. This strike is also a potentially doctrinal defining moment. Indeed, President Trump may have inaugurated a new era in American grand strategy, one characterized by what I am calling “Prioritized Deterrence.”
The strike on Iran was not about nation-building or human rights. It was specific, targeted, time delimited, and dependent on unique American technical capabilities. The result was denying Iran the ability to threaten America and our allies with nuclear weapons, while opening the door to a more stable future for the region. All of these reflect elements of Prioritized Deterrence.
What Is “Prioritized Deterrence”?
So, what is Prioritized Deterrence? Like realism, Prioritized Deterrence is girded by restraint and guided by quantifiable and inherent constraints placed on the nation, its resources, and our people. Acknowledging these realities forces decision makers to prioritize threats and challenges based on urgency and severity. Decision makers then match questions of time and interest to arenas of American technical dominance. America should strike where and when it can deploy overwhelming force, but only at the highest priority targets and without open-ended commitments in terms of time and resources—commitments we cannot afford given the existential threat posed to America by the Chinese Communist Party.
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