crote 2 days ago

It wasn't wrong, just too early.

At the time international trade was still fairly minor, so although a war would be deeply unprofitable it'd still be possible. Today's economy looks quite different, with even basic consumer goods coming from overseas. If international trade were to suddenly cease, most major countries would be in serious trouble really quickly.

The most extreme example of this is the European Union. Its economies are so deeply interwoven that they act as a single entity. Separating them to the point that one of its members can independently support a war economy would take decades, so it does indeed make intra-European wars virtually impossible.

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  • foldr 2 days ago

    It doesn't make war impossible, just economically ruinous.

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    • isk517 2 days ago

      Make's war more unappealing to those that are rational, which is the best you can hope for because there is no sure fire way of dealing with the irrational.

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      • foldr 2 days ago

        Although I think wars do often have an irrational element, economic considerations aren’t the only ones that should influence rational decision making.

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thimabi 2 days ago

We survived the Cold War because the U.S. and the Soviet Union were able to rationally agree on not using nuclear weapons. I sure believe countries today can rationally agree on avoiding war for fear of the economic consequences.

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