When Refusal Doesn’t Matter: Operation Epic Fury and the Erosion of Host Nation Consent (warontherocks.com)

• US launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran in February 2026.
• Allies denied base access but were overridden.
• Erosion of host nation consent undermines NATO trust.

"The US military operation against Iran in February 2026 (Operation Epic Fury) demonstrated that allies' refusal to grant base access cannot stop an American war. This shattered the assumption that host nation consent is a binding constraint. The article focuses on the inward flows of US assets into the theater, rather than the outward flows from Korea, and argues that this erosion of consent has profound implications for NATO and European security."