In the long run the Crusades did not get Jerusalem back
They got it for 200 years, that's pretty long.
Islam eventually lost its conquests in Europe
But they still have North Africa, Asia Minor, Persia, and large swathes of India and Indonesia. That 'long run' is 1400 years and counting.
What kind a long run are you talking about? Plain fact is, that for the kind of long run that men are interested in, i.e. the rest of their own lives and beyond, war can win big, though it usually doesn't, or it does but its gains cannot be kept. But sometimes it does, and that keeps the option popular.
A good look at history does not support the interpretation that 'war never works'. You want to argue that it's a bad bet, it fails more often than it succeeds, it has unintended consequences, fine - but I would add, everything has unintended consequences. But saying it never works is silly. |
