By Daniel Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress
When a statesman dies, Washington understandably reflects on the person. But sometimes the more important question is what unfinished strategic work he leaves behind.
For Sen. Lindsey Graham, that work was strengthening America’s alliances and making them more reciprocal. He understood that alliances are not acts of charity, but two-way partnerships, and among America’s most effective instruments of national power.
Today, that work remains unfinished: building a new generation of trusted partnerships—from Israel and the Gulf to Europe—that share burdens, advance common interests, and strengthen America’s ability to deter conflict before it begins.
America’s Alliances Must Deliver
Graham belonged to a generation of American leaders shaped by the Cold War, but his understanding of alliances was not nostalgic. It was grounded in the realities of the world today
He knew alliances do not maintain themselves, nor can they become one-way arrangements in which Washington carries the costs while partners enjoy the benefits. They must be continually renewed, tested, and connected to American priorities.
This is where President Trump’s emphasis on burden-sharing matters. Asking allies to contribute more does not weaken alliances. Done properly, it strengthens them. It replaces dependency with reciprocity and transforms partnership into shared responsibility.
The strongest alliance is not one in which America protects others indefinitely. It is one in which capable partners help the United States prevent wars, contain threats, and defend the international order on which American security and prosperity depend.
Israel Shows What A Two-Way Alliance Can Be
Israel remains one of the clearest examples of an ally that delivers.
The U.S.-Israel relationship is a deeply reciprocal alliance that provides the United States with intelligence, military innovation, cyber expertise, missile-defense technology, operational experience, and a capable regional partner willing to confront common threats. Israel does not ask us to fight its wars. It invests heavily in its own defense and has repeatedly taken direct action against terrorist organizations and hostile regimes threatening both Israeli and American interests.
Often, Israel is among the first allies to step up in support of American interests and the security of American citizens
That does not mean Washington and Jerusalem will agree on every issue. Allies rarely do. But durable alliances are not built on permanent agreement. They are built on strategic value, trust, and the knowledge that each side will remain present when circumstances become difficult.
This is what Sen. Graham understood about our special relationship with Israel and other key partners in the world, and that is the reason he staked a lot of his time, energy, and, as we now understand, his health, on helping maintain some of America’s most important alliances in the world, working closely with the President and our national security establishment.
A Historic Opening In The Gulf
The same principle guided his work on American policy in the Gulf. In serving this American interest, he worked closely under both the Trump and Biden administrations, remaining focused on the American interest.
The convergence among Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other pragmatic regional actors is one of the most important strategic opportunities before Washington. These states face many of the same threats: Iranian missiles and drones, proxy warfare, attacks on shipping, cyber operations, and extremist movements determined to keep the region divided.
The United States can and should help turn that convergence into a practical regional architecture. That means deeper cooperation on air and missile defense, intelligence sharing, maritime security, cyber resilience, energy, technology, and trade.
It also means supporting further normalization between Israel and Arab and Muslim states wherever conditions allow.
The Abraham Accords demonstrated that old assumptions can be broken. The next phase should make those relationships harder to reverse by proving that peace and cooperation deliver concrete benefits.
Europe Still Matters, And Must Step Up
Europe also remains essential to American strategy.
This should not be confused with a defense of the status quo. Some European allies have underinvested in their own security, hesitated when difficult decisions were required, allowed antisemitism to spread in their countries, and relied too heavily on American power.
President Trump has been right to insist that partners carry more of the burden. And as the President emphasized before, the answer to weak alliances is not fewer alliances. It is stronger ones.
Europe’s military capabilities, industrial base, intelligence networks, and political reach remain valuable to the United States. The task is to ensure that European partners become more capable, more reliable, and more willing to act when American and allied interests are threatened.
This is how “peace through strength” becomes sustainable.
The Advantage America Should Not Surrender
America’s rivals understand the value of alliances. Iran built a network of militias and proxies. Other competitors are building networks of economic, political, and security dependence designed to circumvent American power.
The United States possesses something far more powerful: alliances with strong nations that choose partnership because it advances their interests and reflects shared values.
That advantage should be cultivated.
Lindsey Graham understood that diplomacy was not conducted only through diplomatic protocols. It required getting on the plane, making the call, returning after the headlines moved on, and reminding friends that partnership comes with responsibilities.
His unfinished strategic work is now ours.
America should continue building trusted alliances that are neither sentimental nor transactional, but strategic and reciprocal. Allies must contribute. They must share risks. They must support the United States when required. And we should acknowledge when allies step up, as Israel, the UAE, and others have done recently.
In return, they should know that America remains a serious and reliable partner.
That is how alliances deter wars, how they multiply American power, and how the United States preserves one of the greatest strategic advantages it has.
