Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department is counting its losses. An investigation by the Washington Post found <\/a>that Iran has damaged 217 structures at 15 U.S. military sites in the Middle East. CNN reported<\/a> that at least nine U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar were \u201csignificantly damaged\u201d by Iranian strikes. Rebuilding these resources will take years and cost billions of dollars. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the United States expended<\/a> between half and 60 percent of its Patriot defense missiles\u2014more than Ukraine has used in four years of war with Russia\u2014and a third of its Tomahawk missiles in engaging Iran during the hot phase of the ongoing war. Leaving aside the costs, both types of munitions take up to four years to manufacture and replace. If the United States were called into action in another arena\u2014defending Taiwan, for example\u2014it would go into battle sharply diminished. And don\u2019t forget the loss of life. At least 13 U.S. service members have died in the fighting so far, and more than 400 have been injured. Their families can only be asking why.<\/p>\n It almost feels churlish here to discuss soft-power costs, but it\u2019s worth considering that waging a war without domestic or international consensus leaves the White House with less room to cite norms or rules when it wants to chide another power for starting a war. The United States has normalized ordering the execution of another world leader.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the energy crisis. The price of gasoline<\/a> in the United States is up by nearly half since this time last year. Diesel, which is used<\/a> by commercial vehicles, is up by 59 percent. The obvious reason is the war; the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has constrained a previously oversupplied market. As I\u2019ve written previously<\/a>, the pain is even more acute in Europe and Asia. Countries such as Pakistan and the Philippines have ordered public offices to reduce their workweeks and shut down universities to conserve energy. Even India, the world\u2019s fifth-largest economy, requested its 1.4 billion citizens last week to reduce their usage of fuel and stop panic-buying gold. Bad as all of this is, the worst is yet to come. Energy prices would have risen far higher by now were it not for the United States ramping up oil exports and drawing on its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. China, which is experiencing a period of reduced internal demand, has also been using up its immense cache of petroleum. If Washington cuts exports or if Beijing were to start dipping into the market instead of its reserves, prices could spiral upward. As always, smaller economies will suffer the most.<\/p>\n Other commodities are also experiencing severe shortages, with a range of ripple effects in store for the world. In addition to ferrying a fifth of the world\u2019s crude and natural gas in normal times, the Strait of Hormuz is also responsible for a fifth of the world\u2019s supply of fertilizer and a third of its helium. A global food crisis and a shortage of semiconductors, which rely on helium, is already baked into economists\u2019 projections for the next year. The longer the crisis drags on, the higher the costs.<\/p>\n Global growth is already faltering. In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast<\/a> for growth from 3.4 percent to 3.1 percent. A fresh projection today would likely merit an additional cut of a third of a percentage point. The IMF expects growth to fall to 2 percent by next year if energy supplies do not return to normal, a scenario that feels increasingly likely. To put this eventuality in perspective, the world has grown by less than 2 percent only four times since 1980. The world has experienced a global recession only twice since 1950, during the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. If the Iran war took its place among these two unforeseen shocks, it would represent an own goal of historic proportions for Trump and the United States.<\/p>\n Consider also the cost to U.S. alliances. Trump asked NATO allies in Europe to help the White House forcibly reopen and de-mine the Strait of Hormuz. Upon realizing that no help would be forthcoming, he denied ever requesting assistance. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, not known for his candor, has said<\/a> the United States was being \u201chumiliated\u201d by Iran, enraging Trump and worsening an already fraught relationship. In the Gulf, countries that invited the United States to build military bases on their soil are now wondering why they willingly put a target on their backs. Qatar, for example, will take several years to return to its pre-war output of natural gas; its economy is projected to contract by 8.6 percent this year. Asian allies, with limited ability to withstand shocks, are questioning whether the United States is a rogue actor on the world stage. But U.S. adversaries see the war differently. China is likely pleased at how overstretched and weakened the U.S. military has become. And Russia has emerged<\/a> as the clear winner of the conflict, doubling its monthly oil revenues since the start of the war.<\/p>\n Doubling down on the war remains an option that Trump has publicly contemplated. But it would come with even more uncertain benefits than before\u2014and much more potential pain. As for how to get out of this, diplomacy is preferable but begs the question: Why start the war in the first place? This leads us back to Trump\u2019s summit with Xi last week. If you were Beijing\u2019s leader, would you want to interrupt your primary long-term competitor as they make a catastrophic mistake? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks off stage at the end of a campaign rally at the Santander Arena on November 04, 2024 in Reading, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n The End of America\u2019s Soft Power \n \tThe United States has given up on one of its core international strengths. \t <\/p>\n A man wearing a T-shirt and track pants sits perched on a gas container, his sandals off and resting on the ground in front of him. He holds a purple umbrella over his head, seemingly to provide shade. Other people mill about in the background.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n The World Is Paying the Price for America\u2019s War \n \tConflict with Iran hurts American wallets, but it\u2019s far more devastating for people in the global south. \t <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A person wearing a black chador and a face mask stands on a small blue stage, holding a large Iranian flag that waves in the wind. Behind them is a massive billboard featuring a close-up of a person\u2019s face and text in English and Farsi. White storefronts with gold and red lettering are visible at the bottom.<\/p>\n <\/a>![\"Republican](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2182935200.jpg\")
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\n Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks off stage at the end of a campaign rally at the Santander Arena on November 04, 2024 in Reading, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/themes\/foreign-policy-2017\/assets\/src\/images\/icons\/audio.svg\")
\n <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Umbrella-lpg-GettyImages-2268856420.jpg\")
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\n A man wearing a T-shirt and track pants sits perched on a gas container, his sandals off and resting on the ground in front of him. He holds a purple umbrella over his head, seemingly to provide shade. Other people mill about in the background.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779119115_994_1-iran-us-all-out-war-GettyImages-2274092258.jpg\")
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\n A person wearing a black chador and a face mask stands on a small blue stage, holding a large Iranian flag that waves in the wind. Behind them is a massive billboard featuring a close-up of a person\u2019s face and text in English and Farsi. White storefronts with gold and red lettering are visible at the bottom.<\/p>\n