Politics

Mar 25, 2026 Harold James

In 1956, British and French leaders launched an operation to overthrow a hostile government in Egypt and restore their own countries' global preeminence, only to suffer a humiliating defeat that would leave them weakened and dependent on the United States. Is the US president dragging his country down a similar path in Iran?

PRINCETON – War is always a gamble. That is true even when leaders call it something else, like “special military operation” (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s evasive name for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine) or “excursion” (US President Donald Trump’s preferred term for his attack on Iran).