Perhaps trade and warfare were equivalent back in the days of gunboat diplomacy (a favoured U.S. strategy in Asia in bygone days), but absent a willingness to engage in armed confrontation, today trade and warfare are fundamentally different. (canadianbusiness.com)
Not to be too melodramatic, but, a year ago, if you had asked me what the possibility was of major armed confrontation between the United States and another big country, I would have said functionally zero. (inc.com)
Ships that participated in the strike remained at sea without armed confrontation from Syria or Russia. (businessinsider.com)