Hacker News Reader

No, the “war as a distraction thing” is an over repeated trope with little nuance or bearing on reality. War doesn’t distract but puts all eyes on you and losing one (which is always a risk) is a sure fire way to lose any power you were looking to keep via distraction anyway.

Societies go to war when they think they can win and achieve political aims. Any distraction is an excuse to do something they were likely to do anyway.

View on HN

> over repeated trope with little nuance

Says the guy whose entire argument is "war is risky." Well, yeah -- and a ruler weighs that risk against the risk of losing legitimacy and power due to a stalling economy. This story has repeated many times in history. That's why it's a "trope."

> political aims. Any distraction is an excuse to do something they were likely to do anyway.

You don't have to read between the lines on Taiwan, you can simply read the lines.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com