The Daily Signal - VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: How Will the Wars in Ukraine, Middle East End? The Answer Lies in History.

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

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 interruptum,” 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. 00:00 Introduction: Reflecting on the Nature of War 00:56 Historical Perspective: Classical Warfare 02:36 Modern Conflicts: The Shift in Warfare 04:12 Case Studies: Middle East and Ukraine 06:06 Conclusion: The Future of Warfare 👉 Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1   👉 If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273   👉 He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. With two large theater wars raging, one in Ukraine and one in the Middle East, maybe it's time just to pause and reflect on the historic nature of war. So generally in the world today, these conflicts are what we call a bellum interrupt them. 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, that's how the civil war ended.

unconditional surrender grant, gave terms to Robert Ely at Appomattox, the South accepted it, they were defeated, slavery, state's rights was solved. But the old classical idea may not be as ossified as we think. Maybe the self-restraints are up here rather than in the real world. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hanson for the Daily Signal. With two large theater wars, raging, one in Ukraine and one in the Middle East, maybe it's time just to pause for a few minutes and reflect on the historic nature of war. Traditionally, the way that political differences were settled, the aggressor versus the invaded, was by defeating the enemy through superior force, not proportional force, not symmetrical,

but asymmetrical and disproportionate force. forcing them to either surrender or to forcibly destroy their means of opposition, and then humiliating them and subjecting them to political reform. That's how the Civil War ended. Unconditional surrender grant gave terms to Robert Ely at Appomattox. The South accepted it. They were defeated. The issue that had separated the two sides.

Slavery, state's rights, was solved. Same thing with World War II. We did not have a Versailles Treaty. We did not have an armistice like World War I. We subjected the Italians, the Japanese, and the Germans to overwhelming force. They accepted that, surrendered, and we forced political changes, and today they're all our friends and allies. That is very rare, though, in history. It happens, and it's the preferable way of solving a political existential difference, but

It doesn't happen. And it's almost non-existent since World War II. If you look at Korea, if you look at Vietnam, if you look at the Gulf War I, if you look at Gulf War I, if you look at Gulf War II, et cetera, et cetera. If you look at what, the seven or eight wars in the Middle East that Israel has fought. So why is that happening? Well, one people think there's nine nuclear powers in the world today, and they have several proxies. So inevitable, when an inevitable conflict arises in the Middle East, we're worried that Russia might intervene, or China. might intervene or along the Ukrainian border. We think, well, strategies dictates that Ukraine should hit strategic targets in Russia. But if we did that, they did that. Europe did that. We supplied it. Russia might, as they threatened, we apply with a tactical nuclear weapon that would escalate into Def Kong 1. Cuban Missile Crisis. Is that the answer? Or is it we're a therapeutic world now? We're globalized. You can see a death in action by drone in the Middle East on your television set. So we're all engaged, and we see war in its raw manifestation.

This is not like the Civil War, where people had no idea what the body count was at Gettysburg for weeks. So maybe we are repulsed by it, and we say, no, no, don't do that. War is an obsolete idea. I could go on, but there are a lot of restraints on classical warfare's formula. Defeat, humiliate the enemy, subject them to political, terms, change or alter their politics, and there is no longer an existing difference, and war

then has some utility. What do we see in the Middle East? Israel has decided since October 7th of 2023 that it must take a different course. So as I'm speaking, they are in Gaza, and they have adopted a new strategy. I don't know if it's going to work or not, but it basically defies the most of modern restraints on ultimate, unconditional surrender by the enemy. What do I mean? They're saying, I don't really care if Iran says they have a nuclear weapon or not. We'll deal with that.

But we are going to defeat Hamas, humiliate it, and force them either out of Gaza or to disband. And we're going to do that by superior force, and we do not really care what CNN shows you on your television screen. We'll see if it works. It's an ossified idea in our culture, but it is a solution that 2,500 years of Western civilization have said works. Maybe in Ukraine. Ukraine said, maybe we can push Russia back.

That was impossible. That spring offensive, as much as we all wanted to succeed, they were attacking a country four times the population, 10 times of GDP, 30 times the wealth. Maybe Russia thought the only way to solve our Ukrainian problem is to take Kiev, dismantle the government. That was their strategy. It was classically Roman, but it didn't work because they didn't have the military wherewithal to defeat Ukraine. So generally, in the world today, these conflicts are what we call a bellum interrupt them. 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. Maybe the self-restrains are up here rather than in the real world.

And we're going to see very quickly, perhaps, in the Middle East. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis-Hanson for The Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansen.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.