The Creator, The Almighty, has blessed this world with enough to feed and shelter hundreds of billions of living beings; therefore, we can only account for about eight billion humans and leave the other living beings unaccounted for. Yet millions of people across the globe still sleep hungry, without shelter or adequate clothing. The reason: the greedy nature of humans, which is laden with selfishness under the umbrella of the realist paradigm. The world is just not willing to forgo its own interests, even if it affects others-a reason for wars and conflicts, and for people sleeping hungry with clothes and shelter.
It pains me to write that we have not been able to determine how much is enough, adequate, or sufficient for us to live an adequate life. Therefore, we continue to accumulate power so that we can influence others to fulfil only our own interests. For the sake of the argument, if we take the example of the sole superpower, the United States of America (U.S.), which has the world’s most advanced and lethal military machine of all time. One is puzzled about how much is enough to keep it in that position in the coming decades.
When Donald Trump took over as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025, the expectation was that all wars would stop forthwith, including Gaza and Ukraine. He did achieve a Gaza ceasefire for which he claimed a Nobel Peace Prize; however, the Ukraine war has entered its fifth year. Since he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize and he does not like being denied, refused, or even debated, he has unleashed a host of new conflicts and wars across the globe.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes against brotherly states are based on the premise that it is fighting for its survival, and these states must not allow the U.S. on their soil for attacks on Iran.
He started in the immediate neighbourhood with Canada, calling it the 51st state of the U.S. Then, he turned towards Mexico and slapped numerous tariffs. In Fact, Trump launched a tariff war against anybody who he thought was exporting more to the U.S. Even his favourite nations also came under the fold, including India. In the meantime, Trump decided to establish a modern tourist city in the Gaza Strip, and he created a Board of Peace with a membership fee of USD 1 billion. Several Muslim countries, including Pakistan, joined the BoP in the hope of achieving a lasting peace.
Next in line was Greenland. Trump claimed that he wanted to buy Greenland at any cost, either by buying its people or by force. Trump insisted that if the Norwegian government did not agree to transfer its control to the U.S., he would send the U.S. troops to capture it. Trump’s demand to acquire Greenland by force alienated its reliant allies in the European Union, and EU members demonstrated an unprecedented level of unity on the issue.
While Trump’s rhetoric of forcefully capturing Greenland was still being discussed, he turned towards Venezuela. He captured the legitimate President from his presidential palace to try him in the U.S. courts on charges of smuggling and trafficking. Later on, it was revealed that he wanted control of the world’s largest oil reserves, and he achieved it.
As soon as Mission Venezuela was accomplished, Trump turned towards Iran, prompted by Israel, and started threatening it with dire consequences on its pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile programmes. While the talks in Oman were heading in the right direction, Israel and the U.S. decided to bomb Iran.
On February 28, 2026, A combined strike by Israel and the U.S. eliminated the Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his family members through an air strike on his residence. Trump started a new war after being denied a Nobel Peace Prize.
While Iran mourned the martyrdom of its spiritual and military leadership, it vowed to respond in kind against all stakeholders, including those regional countries which have U.S military bases from where the U.S. is launching its strikes against Iranian targets. Hence, Iran started to respond against targets in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Iran’s retaliatory strikes against brotherly states are based on the premise that it is fighting for its survival, and these states must not allow the U.S. on their soil for attacks on Iran.
Going back to the title, one must ask the U.S. President as to how much would be enough for him to let the world move on without bombs and bullets. How many more countries does he want to capture or control to take over their energy and rare earth materials for his use to maintain and sustain the role of the sole superpower, and for how long, because history tells us that no empire can remain number one forever?
The writer of this article has authored four international books: Nuclear Deterrence and Conflict Management Between India and Pakistan, South Asia Needs Hybrid Peace, Understanding Sun Tzu and the Art of Hybrid War, and Diplomacy and Deterrence.”