US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard made waves this weekend by asserting that Washington’s decades-long foreign policy of “regime change” has finally come to an end under President Donald Trump. Speaking at the 21st Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, Gabbard described what she called a “new era” in American diplomacy-one defined by pragmatic deal-making rather than military interventions. Yet her remarks have reignited fierce debate over whether the US has truly abandoned its historical playbook of overthrowing governments it deems hostile.

For more than half a century, the phrase “regime change” has been synonymous with US foreign policy. From the CIA-backed coups of the Cold War to the invasions of Iraq and Libya, Washington has repeatedly justified interventionism as a mission to spread democracy or safeguard its national interests. Gabbard, once a staunch critic of those policies during her tenure in Congress, acknowledged this history, calling it a “counterproductive and endless cycle” that left the United States “with more enemies than allies.”

“The old Washington way of thinking is something we hope is in the rearview mirror,” Gabbard said in Bahrain. “For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a one-size-fits-all approach of toppling regimes, imposing American governance models, and intervening in poorly understood conflicts.”

According to her, this strategy has cost trillions of taxpayer dollars and countless lives while making the world less stable. Gabbard argued that President Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 marked a turning point, citing his emphasis on diplomacy and negotiation as proof of a strategic shift. “From day one, he has shown a very different way to conduct foreign policy-one that is pragmatic, deal-driven, and........

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