[Magnum44]

The point was, what are the lessons of history that apply to containing aggressor nations like Iran, NK, or even China, today?

We can wait until we have a full on war that directly or indirectly hurts us as a nation, or we can use whatever means short of war (economic, political, military force) to deter or stop those bad actors from doing worse harm if left unchecked.

Dealing with evil will always have a price. Pay me now or pay me later.

[corkoman]

Well your point is valid but I think most of us are super leery of sticking our neck out too far - if US servicemen get injured or killed during these interventions... that can lead to escalations and then more unending deep state wars.

I am not all that keen on getting involved with Moslem-on-Moslem internecine wars.