[Zhang Fei]

Yeah, and the guys in charge back then had some familiarity with with the horrors of global warfare and understood what direct confrontation meant. For the past 20 years this country’s foreign policy has been run by a bunch of draft dodging chicken hawks. Oh, and back then NATO wasn’t blowing up planes and troops on Russia’s front doorstep. They’re a little touchy about that things like that.

Actually, the reverse is true. Because few of today's rulers have direct knowledge of combat, they quail at trivial casualty numbers. Zhukov fed millions into the meat grinder. It's only with exposure to mass death that commanders develop a tolerance for large scale casualties.

[Orangedog]

Zhukof and stalin fed millions into the meat grinder because they were invaded. Having enemy troops within spitting distance of your capital reorders one’s priorities.