Great work. From that final graph showing the "long peace" I would suggest that the likely cause of this unusual period is American military ascendency including nuclear weapons. Large scale war ended, and war in general dropped off precipitously since the US became a world power with nuclear weapons. And since the US became the unparallelled superpower after 1989, war in terms of numerical deaths has become mere background noise in the larger picture. This is why I value our role as the world police even though it seems extremely difficult and unrewarding. The alternative is something that would make us appreciate the seeming crap fest that we have had since 1945. The world is a better and safer place the more ascendant we are. Maybe that's simply always the case with singular overwhelming power, but I believe that the values of the nation in that position is what keeps the peace from being a bloody one, and American values are far superior to the alternatives. Imagine the world under an unchallenged Nazi, Soviet, or Chicom hegemony.
2 comments:
Great work. From that final graph showing the "long peace" I would suggest that the likely cause of this unusual period is American military ascendency including nuclear weapons. Large scale war ended, and war in general dropped off precipitously since the US became a world power with nuclear weapons. And since the US became the unparallelled superpower after 1989, war in terms of numerical deaths has become mere background noise in the larger picture. This is why I value our role as the world police even though it seems extremely difficult and unrewarding. The alternative is something that would make us appreciate the seeming crap fest that we have had since 1945. The world is a better and safer place the more ascendant we are. Maybe that's simply always the case with singular overwhelming power, but I believe that the values of the nation in that position is what keeps the peace from being a bloody one, and American values are far superior to the alternatives. Imagine the world under an unchallenged Nazi, Soviet, or Chicom hegemony.
Interesting. Perfect for the classroom.
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