this article was referenced multiple times by the colonel   then, in 2022, russia launched a full-scale invasion of ukraine. the result has been the largest land war in europe since world war ii. and although forces under russian and ukrainian command are the only troops fighting on the ground, the war has reshaped geopolitics by drawing in dozens of other countries. the united states and its nato allies have offered unprecedented financial and materiel support to ukraine; meanwhile, china, iran, and north korea have all assisted russia in crucial ways. less than two years after russias invasion, hamas carried out its brutal october 7 terrorist attack on israel, provoking a highly lethal and destructive israeli assault on gaza. the conflict quickly widened into a complex regional affair, involving multiple states and a number of capable nonstate actors. in both ukraine and the middle east, what has become clear is that the relatively narrow scope that defined war during the post-9/11 era has dramatically widened. an era of limited war has ended; an age of comprehensive conflict has begun. indeed, what the world is witnessing today is akin to what theorists in the past have called total war, in which combatants draw on vast resources, mobilize their societies, prioritize warfare over all other state activities, attack a broad variety of targets, and reshape their economies and those of other countries. but owing to new technologies and the deep links of the globalized economy, todays wars are not merely a repeat of older conflicts.
United States