When the World Stops Trusting Us
This week, as U.S. and Iranian officials sit down in Islamabad for talks to figure out what comes next after 40 days of war, a new round of polling dropped that tells a pretty sobering story. More than half of British adults now see the United States as a negative force in the world. Not Iran. Not Russia. Us. Get it – (US)A. Just a few months ago, that number was 35 percent. The shift happened that fast.
Britain is supposed to be our closest friend. That “special relationship” has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy since World War II. NATO wasn’t even informed of the U.S. and Israeli plan before the strikes on Iran began on February 28, leaving some allies scrambling to evacuate their own citizens from the region. That’s not how you treat partners. And the polling reflects it.
Iran has been touting the ceasefire as a victory, with its Supreme National Security Council declaring that “nearly all of the war’s objectives have been achieved.” Think about that for a second. We launched the conflict. We threatened to destroy an entire civilization. And the other side is celebrating the outcome. Iran expert Trita Parsi put it plainly, saying that “Trump’s failed use of force has blunted the credibility of American military threats, introducing a new dynamic into U.S.-Iran diplomacy.” Swords can still be rattled. But after this, fewer people are flinching.
Meanwhile, we have the bizarre and genuinely historic spectacle of the first American pope directly criticizing the American president by name over this very war. Pope Leo XIV, a guy from Chicago who does Wordle and reads the Times, called Trump’s threats against Iranian infrastructure “truly unacceptable.” Defense Secretary Hegseth was urging prayers for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ” while Franklin Graham declared God had raised Trump up for this moment. Leo countered that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.” Two Americans, same generation, completely opposite visions of what this country is supposed to stand for. You genuinely cannot make this up.
What makes the British polling so striking is that the U.K. used to be the outlier. France, Germany, and Canada were already deeply skeptical of U.S. global leadership heading into this year. Britain was the holdout, the one that still gave us the benefit of the doubt. Not anymore. The public in all four of those countries now largely agrees: we create more problems than we solve.
And here is the part that should really make us think. The fragile ceasefire that took effect this week already showed cracks almost immediately, with attacks continuing across the region and confusion over whether Lebanon was included in the deal at all. The negotiations in Islamabad may or may not go anywhere. Iran wants sanctions lifted, U.S. forces withdrawn from the region, and reparations paid. These are not small asks.
The question we need to sit with is this: what kind of country do we want to be in the eyes of the world, and more importantly, in our own? We can debate the threat Iran posed. We can debate nuclear enrichment and the Strait of Hormuz and every tactical decision made. But we cannot pretend that the cost of all of this, in global trust, in alliances strained, in lives disrupted, is zero.
The world is watching. And right now, a lot of it is not liking what it sees. Go beyond the headlines…
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