I think your example of U.S.S.R. and Afghanistan proves out the point. War’s are generally not prevented based on economic reasons but they are won out by them. Wars are one by a matter of logistics. They are often about attrition and whom can withstand what the longest; which country has created a system that can sustain itself through long periods of conflict. Greater world tensions between superpowers are borne out in smaller conflicts, such as with Afghanistan; and today such as with the Middle East, North Korea and perhaps in the future Taiwan. Neither side wants all out war (especially in the nuclear age) and so we fight “mini” conflicts that will hopefully lead to some greater outcome. The greater war is the global power struggle with the battlefields being “minor” wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Iran, Korea, etc.). Much will be determined in these conflicts and much will be exposed about weaknesses in current U.S. power and we will have to either concede our position as Global Superpower or fight it all the way down.
