Does anyone realistically believe you will go to war with China or Russia anymore?
Historically there have been military conflicts between superpowers. So I'd say its incumbent on those claiming we won't have wars to explain what's changed and why we won't have anymore major military conflicts.
The nuclear deterrent is the only valid point, and that's a shaky one.
I agree with this.
WRT global trade, I couldn't find the source, but I vaguely remember an article that pointed out that global trade made up a similar percentage of economic activity prior to WWI and was offered as a reason why there wouldn't be another global war.
The other factor to consider is the consequence if you're wrong. You want to take the chance of another Hitler or Stalin coming to power and not being able to stop them?
> You want to take the chance of another Hitler or Stalin coming to power and not being able to stop them?
That presumes some foreknowledge about where that will happen. No part of the world is immune from a Hitler or Stalin coming to power, so for all you know he'll inherit those toys.
It seems unrealistic because the US has such overwhelming firepower. But historically, there have been wars and losing wars has historically been very detrimental to the well being of the citizenry. There is no reason to believe that we've reached some sort of point where war is no longer likely.
The likelihood of total war between any of the great powers is nil because of nuclear deterrent. So why are we wasting trillions of dollars on conventional weapons against enemies that we will never fight? Oh because they'll be sold to non-nuclear powers where there MIGHT be conflict (i.e. Iran)? What a joke. That's a 9 billion dollar defense budget against 682 billion.
The simple truth is that the military-industrial complex is just a giant leech on our economy that has somehow convinced Americans (and other nations) that it's necessary to buy these multi-billion dollar systems because of all the fear-mongering bullshit that's spewed. Roosevelt's line about the only thing we have to fear is fear itself is apt here.
The amount of waste in our system is disgusting. If we had a smart electorate, our defense budget would be much, much smaller.
It's time to stop the charade of war, and help your own citizens instead.