I think you misunderstood my point.
The last foreign adventure the USA got involved in that had international approval was the first Gulf War.
Everything since has been a weird mix of ideological battles and low hanging fruit.
Like if you look at Gulf War 2, kicking taleban ass and wrecking Iraq despite neither of them having as significant a role in 9/11 than Saudi Arabia.
That’s done immense reputational damage to the USA. No news yhere. What is news, though, isChina and Russia have been watching that pattern with interest and now think, America is too scared to attack a “prooer” enemy so keeps going after the easier pickings.
I could be wrong. So in the spirit of sportsmanship, I’ll make a wager...
Before the year is out, both Saudi Arabia and Iran will be in BRICS, Lebanon and Jordan will be firmly on the fence and considering their applications, and Israel will be fending off missiles from at least two directions.
Why? Because China and Russia think of BRICS as a better club with a better nuclear umbrella... and it’s the place to be for ethnonationalist states with a bad case of war fever.
They’re counting on America being either too scared or too poor to continue shielding NATO in Europe.
I did misunderstand you. Thank you for the clarification.