Rather than signaling the end of U.S. wars, 2025 opened a new chapter in entrenching a policy of “intervention from the air.” Under the presidency of Donald Trump, and contrary to repeated promises to scale back America’s military footprint worldwide, the United States expanded the scope of its operations to an unprecedented degree—placing parts of the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America simultaneously within the direct range of U.S. military strikes.
In the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen stood at the center of this aggressive approach. Iraq and Syria once again became familiar arenas for U.S. air and drone attacks—operations carried out under the banner of “deterrence” and “security responses,” but which in practice brought little more than the erosion of national sovereignty, heightened insecurity, and the reproduction of crisis.
Yemen represented an even starker example of this policy. Citing the protection of shipping lanes and Red Sea security, the United States launched direct strikes against targets in the country—attacks whose real costs were borne by Yemen’s population and infrastructure. This pattern once again demonstrated that the security Washington seeks is often defined at the expense of others’ stability.
In Iran’s case, the level and nature of U.S. actions were entirely direct and unambiguous. Air strikes on the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities marked the peak of this confrontation—an act that not only constituted a clear violation of international law and national sovereignty, but also sent an unmistakable message about the preference for military options over diplomacy. These attacks showed that in dealing with Iran’s nuclear file, Washington continues to rely on the logic of force and power projection—a logic that seriously heightens the risk of conflict escalation and regional instability.
Africa, too, became an active theater of U.S. military operations in 2025. Somalia, with the continuation of drone strikes, turned into one of the main arenas of America’s low-cost but high-impact wars—a campaign officially described as “precise and targeted,” yet field reports point to civilian casualties and deep social damage. Nigeria, within the framework of security cooperation, also emerged as a fixed point of U.S. military presence on the continent.
In Latin America, Venezuela remained on the list of targets for pressure and intervention. While the form of U.S. involvement there has not necessarily been limited to large-scale bombing, its inclusion among targeted countries reflects the persistence of a policy of threats, security operations, and comprehensive pressure against governments at odds with Washington.
What makes this entire set of operations more consequential is their sheer scale. Available data point to hundreds of U.S. air and drone strikes in 2025—figures that effectively strip any claim about “ending endless wars” of credibility. Once again, the United States demonstrated that even in an era of diplomatic rhetoric and Donald Trump’s relentless efforts to secure a Nobel Peace Prize, bombs and missiles remain the central instruments of its foreign policy.
NOURNEWS