[flagrant_taco]

2000-2020 want exactly peacetime.

The US declared war on the concept of terrorism in 2001, directly invaded two nations as part of that effort, and overthrew multiple governments before ultimately abandoning the war and handing a broken Afghanistan back to the Taliban in 2021.

We did an excellent job of making sure the war was fought on foreign soil and largely stayed out of our daily life back home, but we definitely were at war.

(I'm focusing on the US here, but there were quite a few other major conflicts and military coups around the world during the same time)

[rany_]

Well, you could make the argument that during the 2000-2020s the US was at war with undeveloped countries that definitely had no chance of dethroning the US technologically; this is different because China is in a position to do just that.

[flagrant_taco]

For sure there are differences in the enemy if you consider us already at war with China and/or Russia. It's my personal opinion that WWIII kicked off the day Russia's navy left port and circled around Europe to get to the Mediterranean (Dec 2021), but we haven't technically declared war yet.

Its worth noting that Afghanistan may be less developed technologically but they have now successfully fended off invasions from both the Soviet Union and the US. Never underestimate your enemy in war, especially if you're Goliath invading David's home.