“Conquest is for losers”: Paul Krugman on why nobody wins in modern warfare — salon.com

Continuing his fierce criticism of Vladimir Putin’s job performance as Russian president, economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes today that the economic crisis confronting Russia illustrates the perils of a warmongering foreign policy — perils, Krugman argues, that the disastrous Iraq War should have made abundantly clear. “You can’t treat a modern society the way ancient Rome treated a conquered province without destroying the very wealth you’re trying to seize,” Krugman explains. “And meanwhile, war or the threat of war, by disrupting trade and financial connections, inflicts large costs over and above the direct expense of maintaining and deploying armies. War makes you poorer and weaker, even if you win.”

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