College students across America are refreshing news feeds and checking Selective Service websites, not out of a so-called “incredible spirit” but out of fear that we’re being dragged into another war in the Middle East.  

As President Donald Trump oscillates between threatening Iran and promising diplomacy, one thing becomes clear: His involvement in Iranian affairs isn’t only about preventing the development of nuclear weapons. It’s about covering up his foreign policy failures while serving the financial interests of defense contractors, energy corporations and reconstruction companies that profit most from American military entanglement. This is the military-industrial complex, the network of institutions that continuously enable vast spending on military policies that may not serve the country’s best interests. 

The crisis that provoked Trump to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities exists because Trump created it. In 2018, he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, a working agreement that kept Iran about a year away from having enough material for a nuclear weapon. Despite international monitors confirming that Iran was complying with the deal’s restrictions, Trump called it “horrible” and reimposed sanctions on the country, promising a “better deal” that never came. 

That withdrawal had more stakeholders than Trump said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actively lobbied Trump to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, giving an “Iran lied” presentation just weeks before Trump’s withdrawal announcement. Trump’s decision to abandon the deal provided a convenient cover for Netanyahu to pursue a more confrontational approach toward Iran, a decision that served Israeli strategic interests more than American diplomatic ones. 

Israeli geopolitics wasn’t the only pressure influencing Trump; he listened to the energy companies who had billions at stake with Iran controlling a massive share in global petroleum and the Strait of Hormuz, a vital access point for 20% of global oil trade. When tensions escalate, American energy companies can see massive profits, benefiting greatly from unnecessary conflict. Trump has famously used quid pro quo offers to gain political favors, including making promises to oil executives in exchange for millions in campaign funding for himself and other politicians who supported his Iran policy.

The results speak for themselves. When Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, Iran was about a year away from nuclear breakout capability. Now, after six years of his “maximum pressure” campaign, Iran is potentially weeks away from having enough weapons-grade material for a bomb. 

The cruel irony is that Trump campaigned extensively on keeping America out of “endless wars” in the Middle East. During his 2019 State of the Union address, Trump said, “As a candidate for president, I loudly pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars.” He regularly criticized previous administrations for getting bogged down in regional conflicts that drained American resources while serving other nations’ interests. Yet here he is, promising to be a “peacemaker” while bombing Iran — exactly the kind of Middle Eastern entanglement he promised to avoid.

As college students, we’re the ones who will live with whatever mess this creates. Male citizens between 18 and 25 are legally required to register for Selective Service. We’ve come to see the “World War III” content on social media not as an outlandish meme, but as genuine fear. 

At the same time, our generation is uniquely positioned to see through Trump’s nuclear disarmament rhetoric; from Iraq to Afghanistan, we’ve lived with the consequences of American interventions our entire lives. Nearly half of Millennials and Gen Z believe America should “stay out of world affairs” — a higher rate than any previous generation. 

It’s never really about terrorism, and it’s never really about nuclear weapons. It’s about making sure that oil flows to American allies, that reconstruction contracts go to American companies and that strategic resources remain under the control of regimes friendly to U.S. business interests. The humanitarian justifications are window dressing for economic imperialism that benefits multinational corporations, while ordinary Americans — and the people in targeted countries — pay the price in blood and treasure.

Real nuclear disarmament would require rebuilding the diplomatic mechanisms Trump dismantled, working with international partners and accepting that America can’t solve every problem through force. But that would require admitting his 2018 withdrawal was a catastrophic mistake, something his ego, and his wallet, will never allow.

Our generation deserves leaders who can think beyond their own political survival and the demands of foreign allies. We deserve foreign policy that prioritizes long-term American interests over short-term spectacle. Most of all, we deserve honesty about what these conflicts cost and who actually benefits. It was never about nuclear disarmament. The only question is whether we’ll let Trump drag us into another war we didn’t want, fighting battles that benefit everyone except the young Americans who will be asked to do the fighting.

Phil Warren is a second-year mechanical engineering and physics combined major. He can be reached at warren.p@northeastern.edu.  

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