by Meg Hansen
In geopolitics, I subscribe to the realist school – view the world as it is, not as one wishes it to be, and shape grand strategy accordingly.
A great power like the United States has two enduring imperatives:
• Maintain dominance in its own hemisphere (“Monroe Doctrine”).
• Prevent any peer competitor from achieving regional hegemony elsewhere.
Applying this framework, U.S. strategic priorities rank clearly:
1. Western Hemisphere — HIGHEST
2. Indo-Pacific — HIGH
China is actively expanding its sphere of influence using economic coercion, political influence, information warfare, and military gray-zone operations.
3. Europe — LOW
The ongoing war has shown Russia lacks the capacity to conquer Ukraine, let alone dominate Europe.
4. Middle East — LOW
Iran’s nuclear program was severely crippled in the 2025 campaign.
In an era of intensifying great-power competition, every major military asset and policy focus carries significant opportunity costs.
The current deployment of two carrier strike groups to the Persian Gulf – with the USS Abraham Lincoln already on station and the USS Gerald R. Ford en route – therefore raises important questions.
→ Does the Trump Administration’s Middle East posture best serve national strategic imperatives?
→ Or does it risk diverting critical resources from the higher-priority Indo-Pacific theater (where U.S. interests face the most consequential long-term challenges) and from homeland resilience?
Author is Director, U.S. Chapter and Non-Resident Fellow, Indo-Pacific Studies Center.