Star Wars, The Iraq War and Donald Trump: A Galaxy Not So Far Away

Rebecca Horton ‘25 / Emertainment Monthly President

Spoilers Ahead.

More than two decades after the long awaited conclusion to the original Star Wars trilogy, George Lucas returned to breathe new life into the franchise. The Star Wars prequel trilogy—which chronicled the gradual descent of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) as he turned to the dark side and assumed the identity of Darth Vader—released between 1999 and 2005, to much fanfare. They were a commercial success, despite the controversy surrounding their quality—fans and critics alike took issue with their stiff dialogue and overreliance on CGI visual effects.

In truth, the merit of the Star Wars prequel trilogy comes not from its quality, but its political messaging. It serves as a stark reminder of what can happen to a country—or a Galactic Republic—when it falls prey to fear. As the Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) tells a young Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace, “Fear is the path to the dark side.” Long story short? In the wake of a second Trump presidency, the Star Wars prequels are more relevant than ever. 

The political context of the time period in which the prequel trilogy was released is critical to understanding their broader cultural resonance. Two years after Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace’s release, the lives of the American viewing public would change forever. On September 11, 2001 the country suffered the deadliest terrorist attack in history. Two passenger planes were hijacked and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring thousands more. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania following a heroic passenger revolt.

As a result, the subsequent Star Wars films—Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith—are rife with allegory, making reference to real events under the guise of a space opera epic. 

The first of the Star Wars prequel films, The Phantom Menace, was released only one year before the attack on the World Trade Center. Curiously, this film sets the framework for the politics that unfold throughout the second and third film, despite not having the same broad political context to draw from—the war in Iraq wouldn’t begin for another four years at the time of The Phantom Menace’s release, and George W. Bush wouldn’t be elected President until November of the following year.

Central to the allegory of the prequel films is Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmind), a demagogue whose rise to power in the Galactic Senate is actually a parallel to Richard Nixon, but shares many similarities with George W. Bush. In the prequel trilogy, Palpatine’s secret ties to the Trade Federation as a Sith Lord mimic George W. Bush’s ties to the bin Laden family, which would later play a role in the Iraq War. 

In the ten canonical years that passed between the events of The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones, the state of galactic politics had grown more fraught. The film opens as Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) arrives on the planet Coruscant and narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. This act of terror evokes imagery of the September 11 attacks, which took place mere months before Attack Of The Clones’ release. In addition to the visual similarities—a spaceship that resembles a plane is bombed—the attempt on Padmé’s life is symbolically similar to the attack on the World Trade Center. On September 11, locations of great political significance to the United States were targeted: the Twin Towers and the Pentagon—symbols of America’s political might both domestically and abroad, as well as the literal headquarters’ for government operations. Likewise, the bombing in Attack Of The Clones takes place on Coruscant, a planet which serves as the capital of the Galactic Republic and the headquarters of the Jedi Order. 

The two events even have similar political impacts on their respective societies. In the United States, the events of September 11 led to the PATRIOT Act, which broadly expanded the powers of the American government to include the surveillance of American citizens. In the Galactic Republic, Palpatine used the resurgence of the Sith Order—of which he is secretly a part—as a rationale for the Emergency Powers Act, which granted him unchecked emergency powers and allowed him to create the Grand Army of the Republic, an army of human clones. 

In Attack Of The Clones, the Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) serves as the film’s primary antagonist. He organizes the assassination of Senator Padmé Amidala at the behest of Palpatine, and is a portrayal of the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in all but name. Much like bin Laden, Dooku touts rhetoric about the irreparable corruption of the Galactic Republic, whereas bin Laden critiqued the foreign policy and military actions of the United States in the Middle East.

Both Dooku and bin Laden are treated as an amorphous and omnipresent threat, despite their human nature. But Dooku and his eventual defeat reflect the cyclical nature of fear and violence. Just as the pursuit of bin Laden and the “War on Terror” created new threats, Dooku’s actions led to the collapse of the Galactic Republic and the formation of the Galactic Empire in the subsequent film, exposing the galaxy to greater fear and violence than ever before.

The final film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Revenge Of The Sith, was released in 2005, at the height of the political discourse surrounding the war in Iraq, which officially began in 2003. Revenge Of The Sith features the climax of Palpatine and his rise to power in the Galactic Republic-turned-Empire, as well as Anakin Skywalker’s metamorphosis into Darth Vader. Overall, the tone of the film reflects and critiques the bleak nature of American foreign policy at the time.

Palpatine’s rhetoric regarding the Clone Wars and the fabricated “Jedi rebellion” evokes fear in the Galactic Senate, which he uses to his benefit when he declares himself Emperor and creates the Galactic Empire from the former Republic. As Palpatine assumes the role of Emperor, Padmé calls on her fellow Senators, “So this is how liberty dies—with thunderous applause.” This line underscores the complacency of the Galactic Senate as they fail to combat Palpatine’s totalitarian rise to power, driven by a false sense of security at the expense of the Galactic Republic.

To top it all off, the Clone Wars themselves mimic the Iraq War, specifically as it was perceived at the time of the film’s release—as a perpetual military conflict, designed never to end but instead to further a political or economic agenda.

As Anakin tells his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) during their final battle on the lava planet Mustafar, “If you are not with me, then you are my enemy!” This phrase eerily resembles a speech made by George W. Bush, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” It is this rationale that gives rise to authoritarianism in both the Galactic Republic and the United States of America. 

The Star Wars prequel trilogy serves as a powerful critique of the United States’ response to both the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and the war in Iraq that followed. The films’ nuanced assessment of fear-based governance resonates deeply with the anxieties of its time, holding a mirror to the faults of the United States government in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in history. 

But the story doesn’t end there. The first Star Wars films served as a model for the prequel trilogy, setting the precedent of political commentary and allegory—and they offer an answer to the question millions of Americans are currently grappling with, “What are we going to do for the next four years?”

Released throughout the late seventies and early eighties, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi hit theaters at the height of the Cold War, and on the tail end of the Vietnam War. At the heart of this trilogy lies the struggle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. 

Just as the prequel trilogy critiques the politics of Palpatine, it is equally disapproving of the Jedi Order itself. They are the neoliberals of the Galactic Republic, held equally responsible by the narrative for Anakin’s fall to the dark side. Their secretive behavior and mistrust of Anakin force him to rely more heavily on Palpatine, a butterfly effect that would eventually lead to their downfall. The supposed “good guys,” the Jedi Order had been equally corrupted by their strict adherence to the Jedi Code, a set of rules that govern the Jedi. Their forbiddance of love and attachments caused them to lose sight of what they were supposed to defend and protect—sound familiar yet? 

In the original Star Wars trilogy, it is love and community that defeats the Dark Side of the Force. It is Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)’s unwavering belief in the goodness within his father, Darth Vader (James Earl Jones), that causes Vader to reject Palpatine and sacrifice himself to save Luke and put an end to the Sith control of the Galactic Empire. It is the spirit of community found within the Rebel Alliance. As the renowned director James Cameron told George Lucas in an episode of his “James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction” series, “The good guys are the rebels… It was a very sixties, against the man kind of thing, nestled deep inside of a fantasy.”

Compassion and unity are stronger than fear. This is the thematic linchpin of the Star Wars films, and it serves as a guide for how to live through a second Trump presidency. Much like the Galactic Empire, Donald Trump thrives on division and fear. It’s why he claimed Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating beloved pets. It’s why he eliminated D.E.I. policy mere days after taking office, and earlier, took aim at the rights of transgender Americans.

By relying on community, as the Rebel Alliance does, Americans can undermine the weaponized fear that goes hand in hand with demagogues like Palpatine and Trump.