In a significant reversal of decades-long American policy, the Trump administration has approved the sale of 48 F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia for $24 billion, bringing Riyadh to near-parity with Israel's current fleet. The decision reflects the enduring tension between arms commerce and strategic restraint — between the logic of alliance-building and the risk of technological diffusion in an interconnected world. As Congress weighs whether to intervene within its 30-day window, the sale raises a question as old as the weapons trade itself: who ultimately controls the power that pow