WASHINGTON: US Vice President JD Vance said on Friday that the United States under President Donald Trump will choose carefully when to use military force and will avoid involvement in open-ended conflicts in what he called a break from recent US policies.

Vance, delivering the commencement address at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, also said that the United States faces serious threats from China, Russia and other nations and will have to maintain its technological edge. “The era of uncontested US dominance is over,” Vance said to the graduates, who will become officers in the Navy and Marine Corps.

Vance said Trump’s order to use force against Houthi rebels in Yemen ultimately led to a ceasefire as part of a deal in which the group agreed to halt attacks on American shipping targets in the Gulf. “We ought to be cautious in deciding to throw a punch, but when we throw a punch, we throw a punch hard, and we do it decisively,” Vance said.

Vance, a former Ohio senator who served in the Marine Corps, said some recent presidents got the United States involved in conflicts that were not essential to American national security.

Vance did not identify past presidents for criticism. But his comments suggested he was talking about former president George W. Bush, who launched US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his successor Barack Obama, who kept up the war in Afghanistan. A chaotic US withdrawal in 2021 after Joe Biden became president continues to be sharply criticised by Trump.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2025