Modern War (revisited: Putin's Russia vs. Imperial Rome)
Many months ago, I made a post musing that there isn't a nation that is willing to prosecute war with the utter disregard for the generally accepted rules of war that the West has adopted via the Geneva Conventions. And that this in the modern world has meant that truly "winning" a war has become very difficult if not impossible. However, I had overlooked Putin. Because of reporting on it being relatively minimal except in the indirect effects of the refugee crisis, I forgot about Syria. And Putin's Russia has clearly shown few reservations for deliberately targeting hospitals, apartment blocks, residential areas, etc. That said, it's hard to say anyone has "won" in Syria though a case could be made for 1) Assad who isn't dead and still nominally in charge and 2) Russia who got to practice blowing stuff up with their armed forces. After the initial failure of the Russian army combined with the ...