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Hormuz, Allies, and Warships
The war that President Donald Trump launched against Iran has entered a more complex phase, with Washington seeking international support to sustain the war effort and guarantee the security of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The war that President Donald Trump launched against Iran, promising it would be quick and decisive, has entered a far more complex phase, marked by an unexpected reversal: the urgent need for international support to sustain the war effort and, above all, to guarantee the security of one of the planet’s most critical energy arteries, the Strait of Hormuz”
Atalayar says the tipping point was the near-total collapse of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, with oil flow falling from nearly 19.5 million barrels per day to barely half a million as risk rose and international insurers withdrew.
In this context, Trump publicly asked NATO allies and Asian powers to send warships to form a naval coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Atalayar describes the area as mined, drone-threatened, and subject to asymmetric attacks.
Atalayar also says the international reaction has been tepid or negative, including the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Estonian Kaja Kallas, declaring: "This is not Europe’s war, and we did not trigger it. No one wants to actively participate in this war."
Germany’s position, as described by Atalayar, was even more categorical, with a government spokesperson saying: "As long as this war continues, there will be no participation, not even in an attempt to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by military means," in a statement that resonated as a diplomatic blow to the American strategy.
NATO at a Moment
While Atalayar frames Trump’s request for a naval coalition as constrained by U.S. Navy capacity and met with European reluctance, Challenges places the broader dispute inside NATO’s shifting cohesion under the new Trump presidency.
Challenges says the transatlantic fault line continues to widen, describing the American security guarantee as "more fragile than ever" and arguing that the alliance’s future is being tested by a widening set of doubts.
Challenges also points to the war in Ukraine as a destabilizing shock since February 22, 2022, and it ties the erosion of collective-security logic to earlier upheavals including Brexit, Trump’s first election, and the Covid crisis.
In a separate thread about NATO’s leaders’ agenda in Ankara, Hürriyet says the U.S. administration expects European member states to increase defense spending toward the 5% of GDP target or exceed it, and it adds that Trump will stress Europe must "pay more."
Hürriyet further says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will emphasize strengthening Europe’s role within the Alliance and consolidating the European aspect of NATO, while also linking Berlin’s push for "strategic autonomy" to debates about the future of troops stationed in Germany.
Peace, Retaliation, and Stakes
Courrier international reports that Trump told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, in a message disclosed by Nick Shifrin and picked up by Politico, that: "You did not give me the Nobel Peace Prize, so I will not refrain from waging war."
“You did not give me the Nobel Peace Prize, so I will not refrain from waging war”
Courrier international says the reception of that message was confirmed by Støre on Monday, January 19, and it describes the text as responding to a short message from Støre and from the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb.
In The Times of Israël, the stakes of Trump’s approach are tied directly to the Strait of Hormuz and to Israel’s choices during the Iran-Israel exchange, with the outlet saying Trump’s absolute top priority is to "reliably reopen the Strait of Hormuz and to calm the global energy chaos Tehran has so adeptly orchestrated."
The Times of Israël also depicts Trump ordering an Israeli official to refrain from retaliation, quoting Trump’s reported line to Barak Ravid: 'I’m going to call Bibi right away to tell him not to respond,' and it adds that Trump said: 'Everybody had fun. Israel struck, Iran struck. We don’t need another one.'
Across the same set of developments, Atalayar links the Hormuz crisis to energy security and military risk, describing the Strait as critical for global energy arteries and noting that only ships outside the Western financial system operate, particularly those tied to China, adding a geo-economic dimension that deeply concerns Washington.
