Ceasefire In West Asia: Why Hasn’t The US Witnessed Strong Anti-War Protests? 

US president Donald Trump’s threat of ‘ending civilisation’ came to an end on Tuesday, with the announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the war on Iran. The ceasefire was followed by mediation efforts led by Pakistan. The pause in hostilities is conditional on Iran’s agreement to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran has indicated it will do so provided the United States and Israel completely halt their attacks during this period. 

A 14-day ceasefire in West Asia has boosted share markets too. Iran's 10-point proposal to find a permanent resolution seems to be accepted by Trump as of now, but he is known for his shifting statements and beginning wars without congressional mandate. Political scientists and former defence officers in the US have begun raising questions about Trump’s mental sanity. 

This raises a question: why is there no nationwide consolidated anti-war movement brewing in the USA? 

Not just Americans, but the world at large is dismayed withTrump’s shifting and often contradictory statements, and his unilateral, authoritarian conduct of the war—where diplomacy was never meaningfully pursued. The rationale itself has repeatedly shifted, from the perceived threat of Iran’s nuclear programme to the pursuit of regime change. The US-Israel war on Iran has claimed thousands of lives including civilians and resulted in a billion- dollar economic loss leading to the global catastrophe.

Since February 2026, Iran has been resisting America and Israel's attacks while using the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic chokepoint. This has inflated fuel prices globally including the US. 

Yet, the United States remained far from a strong, consolidated anti-war movement, with only scattered protests and isolated voices opposing the war so far. This is unlike the Vietnam War during which the uprising against war by the civil society was much stronger. The war on Vietnam continued from 1965 to 1975 and it took years to build an anti-war movement in the US. The war on Iran started a month and a half ago. However, the current anti-war sentiment in US isn’t brewing strong enough to see massive public outrage. Students, activists and civil society members in the US and experts we spoke to say the US hasn’t reached that point as of now to see a massive anti-war movement. It may take a longer time. There are many reasons behind this.

The strong anti-war uproar in the United States during the Vietnam War protests was driven by a combination of mass conscription, rising American casualties, and the unprecedented visibility of the war through television, which brought graphic images of violence into people’s drawing rooms. The draft meant that young, middle-class Americans—especially students—were directly at risk, turning campuses into epicentres of resistance. Revelations such as the My Lai Massacre and the publication of the Pentagon Papers further eroded public trust in the government, exposing gaps between official claims and ground realities. The movement was also deeply intertwined with the Black freedom struggle, as leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. linked the war abroad to racial injustice at home, arguing that Black Americans were being sent to fight for freedoms they themselves were denied. Groups such as the Black Panther Party and other civil rights organisations amplified this critique, framing the war as both imperialist and racially unjust, which helped broaden and radicalise the anti-war coalition. 

The civil society movement and black movement which raised the anti-war voice strongly in America, underlines the importance of people’s movements, which helps manufacture anti-war public conscience.  

That anti-war movement during the Vietnam war now stands as a chapter in history—one the U.S. establishment appears to have learned little from. But also people in the U.S are facing many issues with Trump's rule, ranging from clampdown on students at universities who protested genocide in Gaza to the fear of ICE, fatigue of Epstein files, rising inflation, economic crisis- income inequality, unemployment, fear among diaspora with changed (stricter) immigration policies.

“The attack on the school in Minab province of Iran which killed 175 school children should have triggered something much bigger in the US and across the world, sadly it didn’t, although there were a few protests by the US citizens. No such big uprising is a new normal,” says a researcher from Johns Hopkins University. 

The relative absence of a co-ordinated, well thought, consolidated anti-war movement in the United States stems from a convergence of structural, political, and economic factors. According to PEW research data, a majority of Americans disapprove of the Iran war (59%) and 61% disapprove of Trump’s handling of it, yet this discontent remains deeply fragmented and not translating into unified mobilisation. 

“The war on Iran was never convincingly sold to the American public and has lacked broad support from the outset. The rationale for the conflict has shifted repeatedly, yet a large anti-war movement has not materialised for several reasons. The Trump administration has been aggressive in suppressing dissent, particularly cracking down on student protests over the Gaza conflict. Many Americans recognise the futility of a war with Iran, but are hesitant to speak out publicly for fear of being labelled anti-Semitic. Criticism of U.S. policy often leads, inevitably, to criticism of Israel, where political sensitivities and lobbying influence remain significant,” says Vikas Swarup, former Indian diplomat and writer.

“Apart from a few exceptions like Bernie Sanders, there are still very few lawmakers willing to raise strong anti-war voices. That said, President Trump’s apocalyptic rhetoric, including threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation, has triggered pushback even within sections of the MAGA establishment. His subsequent climbdown, accepting a two-week ceasefire largely on Iranian terms, may further embolden critics. It risks reinforcing the perception that U.S. power projection is becoming increasingly erratic and less credible,” he adds.

Trump’s aggressive response to dissent—especially the targeting of pro-Palestine student protesters through surveillance, arrests, and immigration enforcement—has created a chilling effect on campuses, historically the backbone of anti-war organising. At the same time, fear of agencies like ICE among immigrant and diaspora communities, particularly those directly affected by stricter immigration policies, has further suppressed visible protests. 

“There are scattered protests, but no unified force. International students fear arrests and visa cancellations under the Trump administration, while the working class is consumed by inflation, unemployment, and the struggle to survive in a deeply unequal economy. Multiple issues such as ICE crackdowns, Epstein files have triggered protests, but fatigue and a sense that nothing changes is also discouraging people to create a unified force,” says a Ph.D scholar at University of Pennsylvania. 

International students are under strict surveillance. Their social media posts, content etc is being scanned, every student we spoke to echoed this while requesting complete protection of their identity.

“I’m studying here on an education loan, like many middle-class students who take on heavy debt. So, finishing our education and securing a job to repay it becomes the priority. With Trump’s changes to H1B visas and employment rules for foreign students, the job market has only become tougher. The government is surveilling everywhere, sometimes tapping phone calls also, I am compelled to stay silent,” says a student from Arizona University. 

This is compounded by a broader erosion of collective organising spaces in the U.S., where unions, student networks, and civic groups that once sustained movements like the Vietnam war protests have significantly weakened, making sustained mobilisation harder. 

“With Trump being our president, we always live on the edge. Long back, we have surpassed a stage of making fun of his self-contradictory volatile statements. Now political scientists, former defence officers, and diplomats are questioning his mental sanity. We are paying the price of his policies. Fuel, groceries prices have already shot up, soon we’ll get into an economic crisis and so does the world,” says an Indian-American software engineer based in Washington. 

Economic anxieties—rising inflation, cost-of-living pressures, and job insecurity—have also diverted public attention inward, while overlapping political fatigue from multiple crises has reduced the capacity for sustained outrage. Anti-war demonstrations have taken place in cities like New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco, led by a mix of progressive groups, students and sections of the democratic left, raising concerns over civilian casualties, executive overreach, and the absence of a clear congressional mandate. 

However, these protests have remained sporadic and relatively small, digital activism has amplified anti-war sentiment through petitions and coordinated campaigns, but it has not yet translated into a sustained, nationwide street movement capable of exerting significant political pressure.

The crackdown by Donald Trump on students protesting the Gaza war marks one of the most aggressive uses of state power against campus dissent in recent U.S. history. In 2025, his administration moved beyond disciplinary action into immigration enforcement and federal coercion, with immigration authorities detaining and targeting non-citizen student activists, including lawful permanent residents, for their participation in pro-Palestine protests. Several students and scholars faced detention, deportation threats, visa revocations, often justified under national security claims, while officials reportedly compiled dossiers on protesters and recommended cancelling their legal status. 

Human rights groups and legal experts have argued that these actions effectively weaponised immigration law to suppress political speech, creating a pervasive climate of fear on campuses. Simultaneously, the administration pressured universities by cutting or threatening federal funding, launching investigations, and demanding stricter policing of protests, with hundreds of students facing suspensions, expulsions, and mass arrests nationwide.