Day: April 12, 2025

With two major, ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, historian Victor Davis Hanson takes a step back to examine the historical nature of war—and why modern conflicts so often defy resolution on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” Are today’s endless wars a departure from the classical model of victory through total defeat and political transformation? Or have we simply lost the will to wage decisive wars? “  Traditionally, the way that political differences were settled—the aggressor versus the invaded—was by defeating the enemy through superior force. “ These conflicts are what we call a “bellum interruptus,” they just keep going on. They simmer down, they flare up like a forest fire. But the old classical idea that you defeat the enemy, you solve the political problem may not be as ossified as we think.