A Brief History Of How Countries Sleepwalk Into War

A Brief History Of How Countries Sleepwalk Into WarA nominal ceasefire reached in April 2026 has done little to halt the escalation in the Persian Gulf. Before that, conflict was still imagined through the lens of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the frontier wars. Around 750,000 Americans died in the war, which amounts to roughly half of all US war deaths in the nation’s history. The Long Retreat from Mass WarThe US again entered World War II after years of fighting by combatants from other countries in Europe. From the Civil War and World War I to the modern US invasion of Iraq and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, governments and societies have repeatedly underestimated how wars unfold.