History is not a Paradox game where there is rational top down control.

One twin raised in rich environment performs similarly to those in poor environments academically.

Social programs such as Medicare, SSI, etc dwarf the military budget.

Very soon, "good enough" robotic autonomous infantry will exist which will make soldiers in the 21st century look as outdated as cavalry.

I cannot see any reason, over than oversight and a lack of imagination, why something useful in Ukraine in 2022 was not feasible or useful in 2017 by the USA.

We already used drones quite handily well before that time frame but in a much more limited manner in a different form factor.

Philadelphia in 2025 had a higher murder rate than Belfast during the height of a civil war.

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_countries_result.jsp?co...

Crime in the USA is also extremely regional and local in pattern.

America's power has never been greater. In the 60s we had low level paramilitary street insurgencies. American politics are deliberately designed to be un-actionable by the public and opinion is irrelevant.

European countries and their governments are satrapies that we allow a limited independence to. If they try to step too far out of line they will find their government collapses. We did this to Australia at Pine Gap in the 70s and have a whole word for it "color revolution"