In the days before the surprise U.S. attack on Iran, Politico reported that
one man in the Defense Department was having an outsized say on Washington’s Iran strategy:
Erik Kurilla, the hawkish U.S. Central Command leader known as “The Gorilla.”
“He’s a big dude, he’s jacked, he’s exactly this ‘lethality’ look they’re going for,” said an anonymous former official.
So long as military advisors “come across as tough and warfighters,”
the source added, Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth “is easily persuaded to their point of view.”
Kurilla’s influence illustrates a broader truth about Washington’s current priorities:
In Trump’s second term, hypermasculinity has become the governing logic of U.S. foreign policy.
Masculinity in itself
—associated with traits such as leadership, strength, and courage
—is not harmful.
But a brand of traditional masculinity defined by
aggression,
lack of emotional regulation,
and poor impulse control is,
and it has become a driving force in an administration that favors preemptive attacks in pursuit of national self-interestover U.S. values.
#hypermasculinity #aggression #gorrila #ErikKurilla #PeteHegseth
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/27/us-foreign-policy-traditional-masculinity-trump-iran/