Costs of War
May 18, 2026
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Research Brief: The U.S. Energy Cost of the Iran War

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The costs of war with Iran extend well beyond the missiles, bombs, and deployment of personnel and munitions that have totaled upwards of the Pentagon’s estimates of $29 billion. As summer travel season arrives, this report, in collaboration with the Climate Solutions Lab, outlines one additional cost: the extra fuel costs to consumers since the start of the war, which top $40 billion, or more than $300 per household.

The brief notes that the extra $40 billion in costs:

As of May 18, 2026, higher fuel costs due to the iran war exceed the estimated cost of completely redoing the US air traffic control system

About the Author

  • Jeff Colgan

    Jeff Colgan

    Richard Holbrooke Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson School for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
    jeff_colgan@brown.edu
    Website

    Jeff D. Colgan is the Richard Holbrooke Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson School for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. His research focuses on international order, especially in relation to energy and the environment.

    His latest book, "Partial Hegemony: Oil Politics and International Order," was published in September 2021 by Oxford University Press. He was awarded the 2021 Best Book Prize (Energy Policy, Non-Fiction) from the American Energy Society and two APSA book awards. His previous book, "Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War," was published in 2013 by Cambridge University Press. He has published work in International Organization, Foreign Affairs, World Politics, International Security and elsewhere.

    Colgan previously taught at the School of International Service of American University from 2010 to 2014 and was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. in 2012-13.  He completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University and was a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Scholar at U.C. Berkeley, where he earned a master’s in public policy.  Colgan has worked with the World Bank, McKinsey & Company and The Brattle Group.