The Unspoken Fictional Enemy in "Top Gun: Maverick" [War & Business]

Considering Progress in Iran Nuclear Talks
Diplomatic and Political Landscape
Far More Challenging Than the Movie's Daring Maneuvers

The F-14 fighter jet operated by the Iranian Air Force
[Image source= Iranian Air Force official website]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The recent Hollywood hit movie, "Top Gun: Maverick," features a fictional enemy country. It is deliberately portrayed as a Russian satellite state somewhere in Eastern Europe, but the exact location of this country is never revealed throughout the film.

However, by watching the movie, one can infer which country this enemy represents. First, since a U.S. aircraft carrier is deployed, it must be a country bordering the sea. The protagonist pilots an F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, flying over mountain ranges thousands of meters high to strike nuclear facilities, indicating it is a country developing nuclear weapons in a high-altitude region.

Additionally, this country possesses the latest Russian-made Su-57 fighter jets. The fifth-generation fighter that the protagonist shoots down through various aerobatic maneuvers in the film is the Su-57 model. This suggests that the fictional enemy country has close ties with Russia.

The movie provides the final clue about this fictional enemy near its conclusion. The protagonist and his team, stranded behind enemy lines, steal an enemy F-14 Tomcat fighter jet to return to the aircraft carrier. The F-14 is still in active service only in Iran worldwide.

Despite this, the name of the fictional enemy country is never explicitly mentioned, which is interpreted as a reflection of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the restoration negotiations of the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). For the Biden administration, facing complex domestic and international challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine war, soaring global oil prices, inflation, and the November midterm elections, this diplomatic issue remains difficult to resolve.

Iran is considered a country involved in nearly every diplomatic issue the U.S. must address. If Iran continues its nuclear development unabated, the U.S. loses the justification to prevent nuclear proliferation among its Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile technologies are closely linked with North Korea.

Furthermore, Iran maintains close relations with China and Russia and confronts the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies centered around Saudi Arabia and Israel, standing as one pillar of the so-called new Cold War in the Middle East. Israel, for example, openly demands that the U.S. jointly conduct airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as depicted in the movie "Top Gun: Maverick."

However, if the U.S. attacks Iran, the Shia hegemon, half of the Middle East?including Iraq, Syria, and Yemen?would turn completely hostile, escalating the war and potentially forcing the U.S. to deploy large-scale troops again.

Regarding global oil prices, the issue of lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran is a subject of international debate. The European Union (EU), which has reduced imports of Russian oil and gas, is persistently urging the U.S. to reach an agreement to restore the Iran nuclear deal, as lifting sanctions could supply over 2 million barrels of oil per day.

As in the movie, if a Top Gun pilot could perform aerobatics and sacrifice a few aging F-18 fighter jets to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities without further complications, the Biden administration would not hesitate. However, the real-world diplomatic and political situation is far more complex and challenging.