The Result of Losing Korea?

[VinceC]

This is an interesting debate.

To my mind, Great Powers must fight many different kinds of conflicts, balancing aims with resources. Some of our more important victories, such as the Cold War, involved sometimes intense restraint on the use of force while pursuing strategic rather than tactical victories.

The U.S. military has not really fought many clear-cut victories. In the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, Britain more or less quit fighting but preserved and possibly enhanced its national standing and empire for the next century.

The Mexican-American War was probably a major, lasting victory in that the United States was able to annex California and New Mexico. However, these events still inform our sometimes tense relations with Latin America, whereas most Americans are unaware the war involved a U.S. military occupation of Mexico City.

The U.S. Civil War had a decisive military victory, but the postwar period had many unsatisfactory elements, including the successful use of terror tactics to undermine the role of Federal troops in ensuring voting rights for all citizens. With the passage of the Posse Comitatus Act, barring Federal troops from safeguarding polling booths and protecting desegregated state legislatures, the country remained effectively partitioned for generations.

The United States only really asserted itself as a Great Power beginning with the Spanish American War, which resulted in a sort of ambivalent and short-lived empire. The Panama Canal was an important use of military power and administration in a non warfighting role. In World War I, the United States contributed to victory, but the peace was deeply flawed -- The Central Powers realized they were militarily defeated and achieved an armistice to prevent the destruction of their homelands.

In truth, the real historic aberration may have been World War II. The U.S. was uniquely (though not totally) united around the war aim and willing to achieve total victory over enemy militaries and peoples, followed-up by forceful plans to dominate and transform former enemy societies. The confluence of factors which created World War II is unlikely ever to be repeated.

The decisive destruction of an enemy force is a military tactic. Compelling or convincing an adversarial society to alter behavior or comply with demands is a strategic goal, and this can be achieved through many means.