The Iran Albatross

Middle East Wars, American Politics, and Midterm Election Parallels

On September 18th, President Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act into law. This was first proposed in 2025 and will take effect on October 18th of this year.

Many weeks have passed since CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Moscow at the end of August, yet speculation still runs rampant about the purpose of the sudden excursion. Various media outlets have all given their two cents on the matter, reporting based on anonymous insider sources.

Editorial Note: This blog post was written before the beginning of US military action against Iran on February 27. The post has not been edited to reflect these developments. Readers may evaluate the utility of applied historical analysis by comparing these reflections to the reality of unfolding events. 

In George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series, the Iron Bank is a quietly menacing figure that lingers in the background of Westeros’s civil war. The exact power wielded by the world’s most powerful financial institution is made clear when the Queen Regent Cersei Lannister informs the Iron Bank that she would delay repayment indefinitely. In response to Cersei’s default, her creditor throws its financial heft behind another rival, quadrupling his forces overnight and shifting the war’s balance in one fell swoop.