The US-Israel war against Iran has entered its third week, with neighboring Gulf Arab countries and European leaders warning against further escalation in the Middle East.

While tensions in the region continue to rise, CGTN Europe spoke to Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, and asked him about Europe's response to the conflict and the role it can play, as well as how its impacting international order.

Wolff says most European countries are trying to avoid becoming directly involved in the war, focusing instead on diplomacy and preparing for the geopolitical consequences once the fighting ends.

"So far, we've seen relative consistency across most of the countries in Europe, regardless of whether they are part of the EU or not," he highlighted. "There's been general doubt expressed, quite vocally by several governments, about the legality of the war that Israel and the US started."

He added that many governments are wary of being pulled into a broader regional confrontation.

"What we have also seen is a clear reluctance by most European governments to be drawn into a conflict that might further escalate, and certainly that will leave the Middle East in a much more volatile situation even once it concludes," he said.

Europe's cautious role

According to Wolff, Europe's immediate priority should be avoiding direct involvement in the fighting while preparing for the political and diplomatic challenges that will follow the war.

"At the moment, the best thing that European governments can do is exercise caution so that they do not get drawn into the war – that they do not become co-belligerents," he said.

He also stressed the importance of maintaining long-term relationships across the region.

"European governments need to develop a strategy on how to act once the war is over, in particular how to re-engage with the Gulf-Arab monarchies but also obviously with Iran, which will remain a very strategically important country for Europe and beyond," he cautioned.

Concerns about international law

Wolff explained that the conflict could have broader implications for the global order and the credibility of international institutions.

"What we have seen for quite some time now is a further erosion of the very idea of international law," he said. “There are rules and regulations that say very clearly under what conditions force can be used. There's absolutely no evidence that this war that the US and Israel have started was in any way legal," said Wolff.

He added that the situation also highlights the limits of international mechanisms designed to constrain major powers.

"The other problem, of course, is that it also demonstrates once again that maybe we are not heading towards the famed multipolar order, but rather that the US still acts like a hegemon under Trump," he said. "But also that there is very little that other countries are actually prepared to do to constrain the US in its reassertion of global dominance."