For most Americans, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine came as a surprise; after all, they have never known a world in which one European country invades another.
However, for history scholars, the historical oddity is the fragile peace that NATO and the liberal international order have maintained. So many countries embracing democracy, so many neighbors living in harmony, and so many products and supplies freely flowing across borders stand in sharp contrast to the history of humanity, which empires, conquests, and wars have defined.
