Somebody: That partly explains the massive decline in both the frequency of conflicts, especially major ones, and death-tolls per war over the last few decades - what researchers have dubbed the "peace epidemic". Then we have to consider the roles of economic interdependence, the development of alliances and international institutions, the growing strength of civil society, democracy, and human rights discourse, etc. It's one of the more positive developments of our time.
I mean, really, who goes to war these days? Basically, it's the United States, Israel, and a number of sub-Saharan African countries, and that's basically it. We've strayed quite from Machiavelli's conception of the duties of a prince. Nowadays princes are more concerned with investor confidence and the bond markets than in whether their next-door neighbor's about to invade them.