Gregory Aldrete

I mean, if we adjust for that sort of factor. So that was a global war, and I think that would be very familiar. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean that's the – now we can destroy the world and truly kind of destroy civilizations wholesale. And that does seem to be a new thing. I mean no matter what the Romans did, they didn't have that choice, that ability to think, I can do something that will end life as we know it at least on the planet. And that's a very different perspective. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean that's the – now we can destroy the world and truly kind of destroy civilizations wholesale. And that does seem to be a new thing. I mean no matter what the Romans did, they didn't have that choice, that ability to think, I can do something that will end life as we know it at least on the planet. And that's a very different perspective. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean that's the – now we can destroy the world and truly kind of destroy civilizations wholesale. And that does seem to be a new thing. I mean no matter what the Romans did, they didn't have that choice, that ability to think, I can do something that will end life as we know it at least on the planet. And that's a very different perspective. Yeah.

I think we're at an interesting moment right now. I mean I'm getting way beyond ancient history here, but for a long time we had this sort of stasis with the nuclear standoff with mutually assured destruction between this US sort of block of nations and the Soviet ones. And it worked. Now we're entering this kind of time when a lot more countries are going to start becoming nuclear capable.

I think we're at an interesting moment right now. I mean I'm getting way beyond ancient history here, but for a long time we had this sort of stasis with the nuclear standoff with mutually assured destruction between this US sort of block of nations and the Soviet ones. And it worked. Now we're entering this kind of time when a lot more countries are going to start becoming nuclear capable.

I think we're at an interesting moment right now. I mean I'm getting way beyond ancient history here, but for a long time we had this sort of stasis with the nuclear standoff with mutually assured destruction between this US sort of block of nations and the Soviet ones. And it worked. Now we're entering this kind of time when a lot more countries are going to start becoming nuclear capable.

We might have a resurgence of just building new weapons platforms with China. Seems very eager to expand their nuclear arsenal in all sorts of ways. So it's a unnerving time, let's say, right now.

We might have a resurgence of just building new weapons platforms with China. Seems very eager to expand their nuclear arsenal in all sorts of ways. So it's a unnerving time, let's say, right now.

We might have a resurgence of just building new weapons platforms with China. Seems very eager to expand their nuclear arsenal in all sorts of ways. So it's a unnerving time, let's say, right now.

Right. I mean, it was weirdly stable when it was a bipolar world where you had just sort of those two blocks. Now with a multipolar world with access to these weapons, I don't know.

Right. I mean, it was weirdly stable when it was a bipolar world where you had just sort of those two blocks. Now with a multipolar world with access to these weapons, I don't know.

Right. I mean, it was weirdly stable when it was a bipolar world where you had just sort of those two blocks. Now with a multipolar world with access to these weapons, I don't know.

I mean, we're kind of jumping out of the ancient world, but I'll tell you one thing that's always fascinated me in this sort of comparison of ancient and modern is how people don't learn the lessons of the past in military history. And the very specific example that in my lifetime I've seen play out twice is just certain places people make the same mistakes over and over again.

I mean, we're kind of jumping out of the ancient world, but I'll tell you one thing that's always fascinated me in this sort of comparison of ancient and modern is how people don't learn the lessons of the past in military history. And the very specific example that in my lifetime I've seen play out twice is just certain places people make the same mistakes over and over again.

I mean, we're kind of jumping out of the ancient world, but I'll tell you one thing that's always fascinated me in this sort of comparison of ancient and modern is how people don't learn the lessons of the past in military history. And the very specific example that in my lifetime I've seen play out twice is just certain places people make the same mistakes over and over again.

So a nice example is Afghanistan. Yeah. or roughly that sort of northern Pakistan slash into what is Afghanistan. I mean, that is a geographic region that over and over again, the best, most sophisticated armies in the world have invaded and have met horrible failure. And that goes all the way back to Alexander the Great tried to conquer that area. The Mongols tried to do it.

So a nice example is Afghanistan. Yeah. or roughly that sort of northern Pakistan slash into what is Afghanistan. I mean, that is a geographic region that over and over again, the best, most sophisticated armies in the world have invaded and have met horrible failure. And that goes all the way back to Alexander the Great tried to conquer that area. The Mongols tried to do it.

So a nice example is Afghanistan. Yeah. or roughly that sort of northern Pakistan slash into what is Afghanistan. I mean, that is a geographic region that over and over again, the best, most sophisticated armies in the world have invaded and have met horrible failure. And that goes all the way back to Alexander the Great tried to conquer that area. The Mongols tried to do it.

The Huns tried to do it. The Mughals tried to do it. Victorian Britain tried to do it. The Russians tried to do it. The Americans tried to do it, and they made the very same mistakes over and over and over again.