U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth linked the medieval Crusades to current military actions against Iran during Senate testimony on Friday [5].
The framing of these historical conflicts as defensive wars provides a moral and historical justification for the current U.S. military strategy in the Middle East. This approach connects religious nationalism with modern geopolitical objectives.
Hegseth has a longstanding fascination with the Crusades, which were a series of wars fought from the late 11th to 13th centuries [1]. This interest is evident in his personal tattoos and his published work. In 2020, he wrote a book titled *American Crusade* [2], which concludes with a final chapter titled “Make the Crusade Great Again” [3].
During his confirmation hearing in 2025, his views on these historical events were first highlighted [4]. Hegseth portrays the Crusades not as acts of aggression, but as a defensive war. By applying this narrative to the current conflict with Iran, he suggests that modern U.S. military engagement follows a similar defensive necessity.
The Senate testimony on May 1, 2026, focused on the Iran war and munitions stockpiles [5]. Throughout the proceedings, the secretary's perspective on religious and historical warfare remained a point of contention. Hegseth said the historical context of the Crusades informs the current moral landscape of the conflict.
“Hegseth portrays the medieval Crusades as a defensive war while linking that narrative to the current Iran conflict.”
The alignment of U.S. defense policy with the imagery and narrative of the Crusades represents a shift toward incorporating religious nationalism into official military justification. By framing the Iran conflict as a modern iteration of a defensive holy war, the administration moves away from traditional secular geopolitical arguments toward a moral framework based on historical religious conflict.
