The ripple effect

After America's blunt intervention, Donald Trump says the war between Iran and Israel is over. But the perceived readiness of the US to employ force instead of negotiations could have knock-on consequences around the world

- By Andrew Roth WASHINGTON

FROM RUSSIA AND CHINA TO EUROPE and across the global south, Donald Trump's strikes on Iran have redrawn the calculus of the White House's readiness to use force in the kind of direct interventions that the president said he would make a thing of the past under his isolationist "America First" foreign policy.

For US allies and rivals, the president's decision to launch the largest strategic bombing strike in US history indicates a White House that is ready to employ force abroad - but reluctantly and under the extremely temperamental and unpredictable leadership of the president.

"Trump being able to act and being willing to act when he saw an opportunity will definitely give [Vladimir] Putin pause," said Fiona Hill, a former Trump national security adviser and one of the principal authors of the UK's strategic defence review.

While Trump has pulled back from his earlier warnings about potential regime change in Iran, going from tweeting "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" to "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!" within 72 hours, he has nonetheless reinforced Russian perceptions of the United States as a rival that will not unilaterally abandon its ability to use force abroad.

"It has some pretty dire warnings for Putin himself about what could happen at a time of weakness," Hill said. "It will just convince Putin even more that no matter what the intent of a US president, the capability to destroy is something that has to be taken seriously."