a small defence force that most countries can win from.
if military power was the most importent thing. then how come no one has puched over the japanese government yet?
I would greatly appreciate it if you would read my
entire post. I agree with you. Military power is not the most important factor of either the United States' or Japan's power and influence. Like I already stated, that comes from their economies,
which also act as a form of defense from countries with ties to their economies (in this case, the entire first-world).
However, a military defense force is necessary for defense from
smaller nations not tied to the economy. Japan hasn't been taken over because no nation not tied to their economy has the military power to fight Japan and it's allies (most notably NATO).
Also, you seem to have drawn the assumption that I condone mass warfare.
I do not.
I never claimed to. For the most part I agree with you. Excessive warfare is incredibly undesirable.
My point was that
in a historical context the United States is not a
uniquely violent nation considering it's influence and power.
This does not mean America is not a violent nation. However, I would argue that compared to the British Empire and Rome we are actually
less violent if only because we are not an
Empire. We invade countries and depose governments, but we do not
conquer, and as such we don't have nearly as high account of atrocities against foreign civilian populations (not to say that there are none. There are still plenty).
Furthermore, how many of these wars were
initiated by America, and how many did America just
participate in? It would be great if you could provide a link for your statistics.