How can this be treated as a period of peace when major conflicts and tensions are continuing?
Short answerThe comparison concerns peace at sea: land wars continue, but no major naval war is driving urgent maritime innovation and funding.
NotesA viewer challenges the idea that the period is peaceful by pointing to wars in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen and tensions elsewhere. Here, peace means relative peace at sea: land wars continue, while no major naval conflict forces rapid experimentation or funding. During the Cold War, the expected land battle in Germany could likewise make Atlantic supply seem secondary despite its strategic importance. The Battle of the Atlantic's weaker place in popular memory reinforces the tendency to overlook the maritime system sustaining a continental war.