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Is this the US’s least popular war?

Is this the US’s least popular war?

Regular panellists Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter discuss the historical dimensions of the past fortnight with Sam Edwards, an expert in international relations and war at Loughborough University.

Published: March 12, 2026 at 5:39 PM

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The conflict in the Middle East continues into a second week, with fighting between the United States, Israel, Iran and US-allied states in the region continuing to escalate. Senior US officials have given a range of reasons for launching the war, and disquiet about its causes and consequences has led to a lack of popular support in the US and reports of a fraying of its ‘special relationship’ with the United Kingdom.

In this episode, regular panellists Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter discuss the historical dimensions of the past fortnight with Sam Edwards, an expert in international relations and war at Loughborough University. What does history tell us about the war’s unpopularity in the US? Is this really a low in UK-US relations? And what do we need to know about the Middle East to make sense of recent events?