[crispinb]

You're setting a high bar for belligerence. The US is diplomatically & militarily sophisticated enough that it frequently exercises rational restraint. It also is an admirably open society, undergoing strategic policy shifts as internal arguments get won and lost.

But no-one (for other than ideological purposes) ever mistook the US for a fundamentally peaceable nation (internally or externally).

[fsloth]

Further more, US is so scary they often don't need to do anything. The fact that they make their will known suffices to further their political goals.

War is an extension of politics.

[_eht]

Well said.