70 years ago the Suez crisis exposed British relative decline. Today, the Iran conflict could be doing the same for the US

By Eoin McLaughlin, Professor in Economics, University College Cork

Months after the US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. The UK chose not to get directly involved in the conflict. Nonetheless, it has been exposed to the crisis through record-high diesel prices as well as a spike in inflation.

This echoes an earlier crisis in the Middle East, as my recent research illustrates.

Seventy years ago, the Egyptian government…

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