I'm Dan Kurtz-Valen, and this is the Foreign Affairs Interview.
I do worry if countries feel like they can't rely on the United States.
They're invariably going to look for other ways to satisfy their fundamental national security interests.
In the last few years,
the world has seen the outbreak of a kind of war that had long seemed like a thing of the past.
There was Russia's invasion of Ukraine,
a Gaza war that threatened to turn into a full Middle Eastern war, and in many ways did,
growing dangers in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea,
and tremendously damaging fighting in places like Sudan that get much less global attention.
Mara Karlin, a scholar of war as well as a veteran policymaker, served as the top U.S.
Defense Department official overseeing strategy as these conflicts started or escalated.
She argues in an essay in Foreign Affairs that we are seeing a return of total war,
of conflicts that are more comprehensive and complex than ever before.
Karlin joins me to discuss how fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East is reshaping our understanding of modern war and what this means for US military strategy,
especially in the face of growing tensions with China.
Mara, thank you so much for joining me.
Thanks for having me.
It's such a treat to be here.
Well, there's a huge amount to mine in your recent essay for foreign affairs.
It's called The Return of Total War.