Conflict management cannot prevent every war, but it can resolve some disputes before they acquire the momentum and uncertainty of open fighting. Its political weakness is that failure creates a visible disaster while success leaves no event for observers to count. A deployment that quietly changed an opponent's calculation can therefore be dismissed as wasted effort. The Cold War further narrowed the vocabulary of deterrence by making strategic nuclear deterrence appear synonymous with deterrence itself. Conventional presence and early intervention belong in the same analytical frame.
Notable Point · 17:13-20:27
Conventional deterrence succeeds without leaving a battle
Prevented crises are difficult to prove, while the Cold War's nuclear focus pushed conventional conflict management out of view.