"After Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956, a joint British-French armada of six aircraft carriers destroyed Egypt's air force, while Israeli troops smashed Egyptian tanks in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula. Within less than a week of war, Nasser had lost his strategic forces and Egypt seemed helpless before the overwhelming might of that massive imperial juggernaut."
"By the time Anglo-French forces came storming ashore at the north end of the Suez Canal, Nasser had executed a geopolitical masterstroke by sinking dozens of rusting ships filled with rocks at the canal's northern entrance. In doing so, he automatically cut off Europe's lifeline to its oil fields in the Persian Gulf."
"By the time British forces retreated in defeat from Suez, Britain had been sanctioned at the UN, its currency was at the brink of collapse, its aura of imperial power had evaporated, and its global empire was heading for extinction."
The Suez Crisis of 1956 provides historical context for understanding potential outcomes of US intervention in Iran. When Egyptian leader Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, British and French forces initially achieved military dominance, destroying Egypt's air force and defeating its tanks. However, Nasser executed a strategic counteroffensive by sinking ships at the canal's entrance, cutting off Europe's oil supply. This asymmetric response forced British retreat and triggered international sanctions, currency collapse, and the erosion of British imperial power. Historians term such desperate military interventions by declining empires "micro-militarism." The pattern suggests that overwhelming military force alone cannot guarantee geopolitical success when opponents employ unconventional strategic responses.
Read at The Nation
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