They say that history often repeats itself. It seems like 2026 is looking a lot like 1968. If you remember that year, so much happened within twelve months, some events were truly historic. There are some similarities with this year.

In 1968, the United States was a divided nation. There was the Vietnam War, with America bogged down in a quagmire. Then US President Lyndon Johnson, was seeking to protect South Vietnam from Communism, fighting both a guerilla war against the Viet Cong and a conventional war with the North Vietnamese. Today, the United States is fighting an air war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In both cases, despite committing massive military power against a weaker enemy, victory seems elusive. Trump has not helped by giving various reasons for the air attacks.

The Iranians have proven, like the Vietnamese, that they know how to fight the Americans. All they have to do is survive and wait for the Americans to get tired especially if there are a large amount of casualties particularly if ground troops are deployed. They have the home court advantage of being near the Persian Gulf. They can fire drones and missiles at America’s allies like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel. More importantly, they can block the Straits of Hormuz. President Trump has been unable to secure this vital waterway. Iran has played a good game with a limited set of cards. They are fully aware of the impact on the world economy. No one is immune from a global crash.

Like 1968, the US President has seen his popularity fall as people turn against him. Members of Trump’s MAGA base have revolted against his military adventure in the Middle East. This is not quick victory that he expected. The Ayatollahs have demonstrated that that this ain’t Venezuela. In 1968, Lyndon Johnson was no longer the political giant of 1965. Then he was the master of the landscape. He was able to pass landmark legislation such as the Voting Rights Act. He had no fear of potential rivals like Robert Kennedy. Today Donald Trump nervously looks at the polls for the mid-term elections.

The Space Race is back in the news. The Artemis space mission launched last week headed to the far side of the Moon. We have seen pictures of Earth taken from Orion spacecraft. We are talking about missions to the lunar surface again. Mankind will be traveling back to the moon again. We have not done this since the Apollo mission of the 1970s. In 1968, Apollo 8 took some amazing pictures of our planet from space. Despite all the turmoil of that momentous year, man was able to achieve a marvel of science and technology. We were capable of doing amazing things, then as we are now.

This year is proving to be an eventual one. Time will tell if it will be a historic one like 1968.