War, like any other human endeavor, is the product of individual purposes and choices and not, as it is usually portrayed, the inevitable outcome of complex historical forces or accidental events beyond the combatants’ understanding or control. A proper analysis of war not only must take into account the war makers’ goals, the means at their disposal, the benefits they anticipate from the war, and the costs they expect to incur, but also must distinguish between the war’s individual beneficiaries and its victims.

Defense and Foreign Policy
Other Independent Review articles by Joseph T. Salerno
Spring 2016 The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself
Summer 2004 Did Greenspan Deserve Support for Another Term?