The story of the United States at war is a tale of a country greatly influenced by its liberal political culture, geographic position and history. The United States uniquely adapted a specific Western way of war, starting in the early days of the republic, to wage war in a manner compatible with its liberal norms. Isolated geographically, and with a history of military engagements conceptualized as “all or nothing struggles,” the American people, American politicians and the American military developed a view of war as an aberration – a necessary struggle to be won quickly, but to also be won in a more or less humane way. A liberal nation, enthralled with science and technology, it has sought to apply its technological prowess to achieve this goal. This has worked in some cases, principally where the opponent fights by the same normative standards, but it has failed spectacularly in others, mainly those that are inter-cultural in nature. Today’s challenges, and those of the medium term, are no different.