Trump’s Iran Strategy Under Fire: Eliot Cohen’s Critique

Commentators and columnists have argued that the Trump administration’s approach to Iran in the Persian Gulf was fundamentally flawed. In a recent essay for *The Atlantic*, Eliot A. Cohen—former counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior official in the George W. Bush administration—contends that the United States “significantly underestimated its adversary” and entered the conflict without adequate coordination with European partners or Gulf allies. Cohen asserts that the strategy over-relied on airstrikes, failed to prioritize keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, and ignored the growing military support Iran receives from Russia and China.

Alternet

• Insufficient preparation: Cohen points to a lack of mine-clearing capabilities, limited stockpiles of advanced weapons, and inadequate protection for U.S. aircraft stationed in the region, tracing these gaps to years of underinvestment.

Alternet

• Coordination failures: The essay notes that the administration did not secure necessary cooperation from European governments or adequately ready Gulf allies for Iranian retaliation.

Alternet

• Misplaced expectations: By overstating what airstrikes could achieve—especially any aim to replace the Iranian government—the administration blurred the line between limited tactical success and strategic victory.

Alternet

• Leadership deficits: Beyond operational issues, Cohen criticizes President Trump’s personal approach, arguing that the president “is singularly deficient” in empathy, humility, and moral courage required for wartime judgment.

Alternet

forces in the region. He acknowledges that U.S. strikes caused some damage to Iran’s nuclear program and military industries, yet maintains that the broader strategic objectives—particularly securing the vital waterway—were never prioritized.

Alternet

• “Rather, America's battlefield reversals represent a strategic failure of an acutely embarrassing kind,” — Eliot A. Cohen, who served as counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Alternet

• “The president is singularly deficient in all of these aspects,” — Eliot A. Cohen, who served as counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Alternet