War never retired. It never went out of style. It has always remained the blunt instrument of statecraft. In the democratic world we liked to pretend otherwise, as though human nature had been house-trained, but the less democratic world never joined in the delusion. They said the right words to make us waltz along, even as they rubbed our noses in the truth. We denied it, as we always do.
When “little green men” occupied another country and we insisted it was something other than invasion—that should have told us something. When we declared there were a hundred genders, that should have told us something. When we wrecked our economies by making decisions not on science but on feelings, ignoring every shred of contrary data, that should have told us something.
Reality does not vanish because it offends our sensibilities. It lingers, cold and hard as steel. And it has one ancient reminder for us: Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war.
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