US Foreign Policy: An Examination of American Military Interventions Abroad

President Trump has approved a sweeping Russian sanctions bill that would impose 500% tariffs on countries supporting Moscow, significantly escalating economic pressure on Russia’s allies as the Ukraine conflict approaches its fourth year, according to the Associated Press.

This move comes amid an unprecedented landscape of global conflicts that extends far beyond Eastern Europe. The Council on Foreign Relations Global Conflict Tracker reveals multiple major conflicts unfolding simultaneously across nearly every region of the world, creating what security experts describe as the most volatile international environment in decades.

In Sudan, a devastating civil war between rival military factions has persisted for over three years, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises with millions displaced and widespread famine conditions. The United Nations estimates that nearly 25 million Sudanese – half the country’s population – now require humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, the Gaza conflict continues despite repeated ceasefire attempts, with casualties mounting on both sides as Israel and Hamas remain locked in deadly confrontation. The war has displaced nearly 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and created severe food insecurity throughout the territory.

In Southeast Asia, Myanmar’s civil war rages on as ethnic armed organizations battle the country’s military junta, which seized power in a 2021 coup. The conflict has displaced more than 2 million people and effectively fractured the country into competing zones of control.

Nigeria continues to grapple with persistent insurgencies from extremist groups like Boko Haram, which the U.S. designates as a foreign terrorist organization. The ongoing violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives and destabilized large portions of the country’s north.

Perhaps most concerning for global security experts is the simmering tension between Israel and Iran, which, though not a declared war, has manifested through proxy violence and regional strikes that threaten to ignite a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

The Global Peace Index confirms this troubling trend is not merely anecdotal but historic in scale. Researchers documented over 60 state-based armed conflicts globally in 2023 and 2024 – the highest level since records began after World War II. In 2024 alone, 61 ongoing conflicts span 36 countries, marking the most widespread global violence in nearly eight decades.

Against this backdrop of escalating global instability, the United States maintains a complex and multifaceted involvement without being officially at war in any major conflict. According to security analysts, this represents a fundamental shift in American military engagement.

The U.S. maintains an extensive military footprint across strategic regions, with permanent bases and naval assets particularly concentrated in the Middle East. American forces currently engage in limited combat and counterterrorism operations in countries including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, while simultaneously supporting allies through weapons transfers, funding packages, intelligence sharing, and deterrence strategies in flashpoints like Ukraine, Gaza, and the Taiwan Strait.

Dr. Sarah Kreps, Professor of Government at Cornell University, explains this shift: “We’ve moved from an era of declared wars with clear beginnings and endings to persistent, multi-theater engagements where American involvement is often indirect but strategically significant.”

The standoff between Israel and Iran remains particularly volatile. Following a brief direct exchange and subsequent de-escalation last year, both nations publicly claim to prefer avoiding full-scale war while actively preparing for such a scenario. Israel continues targeted strikes against Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah, while Iran signals readiness to respond if provoked further.

Middle East security analyst Robert Malley warns, “The situation creates a precarious dynamic where miscalculation or proxy attacks could rapidly spiral into a broader regional conflict that would inevitably draw in other powers, including the United States.”

As global tensions continue rising, the newly approved Russian sanctions bill represents just one facet of America’s complex engagement with worldwide conflicts. While the specifics of each conflict differ, the overarching trend is unmistakable – the world is experiencing the highest level of armed conflict since World War II, and the United States remains deeply entangled in shaping how these crises evolve, even without formal declarations of war.