An interesting aside, not strictly related to either the studies reviewed or Nuechterlein's piece itself, is whether we can see Lincoln's conduct of the war as inaugurating a whole new U.S. doctrine of war, a doctrine that saw maturation in Wilson's conduct of World War I and that come to fruition in Roosevelt's and Truman's conduct of the total war that was World War II, a doctrine that finds in a civilian population's will to resist almost as legitimate a target as its military's ability. (firstthings.com)
Major Russell A. Moore argues that «the US has had the luxury of choosing how it will participate in a conflict,» because its borders were never seriously under threat, and that «the US is not inclined to prepare seriously for the actual conduct of war.» (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)
This would render its decisions not only more accurate but also in accordance with the ethics of international law, bringing ever closer the utopian ideal of an efficient, clean and ethical conduct of war. (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)