The controversial decision by the United States President Donald Trump to enter the ongoing Israel-Iran war has once again thrown the world into a state of chaos. 

Speaking after US forces attacked three key Iranian sites linked to their atomic energy programme in Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz, Trump said Iran’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated” by US strikes. Speaking at the White House hours after the attacks, he threatened more strikes and said Iran faced a choice between “peace or tragedy.”

At home, some have already questioned if Trump had Presidential authority to do so and questioned the role of Congress in approving the use of military force overseas. US lawmakers in both chambers last week had questioned congressional approval before US service members could participate in any offensive operation against Iran. In a world struggling to maintain some degree of acceptable ‘order’, Trump’s action and his gloating over it does little to reinforce global stability. Let’s not kid ourselves, the US and the collective ‘West’ was never going to allow Iran to get the ‘bomb’. They failed to prevent India, Pakistan and North Korea from getting it, so the writing was on the wall for a long time, it was a matter of when, not if.

Now that the US has directly entered the conflict, the world watches to see how Iran will respond with few friends and even fewer options and tools at its disposal, Iran could resort to some very unorthodox use of tactics to retaliate against the US and Israel. Irrespective of how Iran chooses to respond, when it does, the rest of the world will also have to pay a ‘collateral’ penalty, be it in disruption of air and naval trade, energy price hikes or regional instability. Iran’s top diplomat warned Sunday that the US attacks on its nuclear sites “will have everlasting consequences” and that Tehran “reserves all options” to retaliate. The comment from Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on X represents the first ranking official to comment on the strikes. How anyone can expect Iran to ‘come’ to a negotiating table after they have not been left with a way to save face or retain some sense of self dignity is a troubling question. However, Iran needs to acknowledge that their tactics, even when used through proxies have not delivered the desired effects. Now on the backfoot, and with designs in play for regime change, the Iranian leadership has few options to turn to.  Iranian diplomats are to travel to Moscow today to discuss the attacks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is also stuck in a stalemate in the war with Ukraine. Let us pray for patience and calmer minds.

Like during his previous tenure, President Donald Trump's foreign policy is often criticised for the damage it did and is doing, not just to US interests, but also to the very structure of post-World War Two international relations. After the Second World War, the US drove the establishment of new international institutions, centered on the United Nations and what became the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. This reinforcing system of international organisations, rules, and norms, commonly referred to as the ‘rules-based order’ is widely credited with having improved international peace and security in subsequent decades by many who study global politics. Of course, it goes without saying that global order favoured the rise and sustainment of the US at the top of the international relations food chain. Ask smaller nations across the world who didn’t make the US’ Christmas card list, and the outlook is very different. Irrespective of how you view the current world order, Trump's weakening of the rules-based order will create additional challenges for small States like Sri Lanka. The island nation, seemingly rudderless or  rudder ‘jammed’ – when it comes to its foreign policy, according to some experts, will now face more disruptions, difficult choices and grief in the coming months, due to a potential fallout from Sunday’s attack on Iran, and the ongoing conflict in Israel.