"War as a means of extending power and imposing one's will is increasingly obsolete."

Douglas Macgregor talking to Glenn Diesen argues that "war as a means of extending power and imposing one's will is increasingly obsolete." He said that while the U.S. remains an outlier in its reliance on war, major continental powers like Russia and China actively try to avoid direct military entanglement because it is impossible to control. Colonel Macgregor notes that large powers like Russia or Iran do not actually want massive territorial acquisition because "territorial acquisition is a lot of trope... you have to administer it, you have to shelter, protect, and support the population."  Hitler thought land meant power and so it did until the Western world underwent the 1950s economic miracle and agricultural methods were revolutionised. he thought possessing Canada was the secret of Britain's power. and he was of course wrong even in his own day. 

Saddam thought and the Americans and Israelis continue to believe in expanding their rule by taking countries but it is old-fashioned thinking. War now is about economics and sattelites.