While the 20th century was a century of unparalleled human depravity with literally millions of lives lost in two planetary wars, and millions more in smaller wars, the 21st century was supposed to be different. History had supposedly ended with the victory of the United States as the sole great power—its civilization the envy of all. However, the century slated to be the dawn of expanded greatness for the United States has seen the nation at war for 17 of the last 18 years with the real possibility that death by war in this century could vastly exceed the millions lost during the last.

虽然20世纪是人类空前堕落的世纪，在两次星球大战中有数百万人丧生，在较小的战争中有数百万人丧生，但21世纪应该是不同的。历史本应以美国作为其文明的唯一大国的胜利而告终，这是所有人羡慕的。然而，本世纪被定为美国伟大扩张的曙光，在过去18年中，美国有17年处于战争状态，真正的可能性是，本世纪因战争而死亡的人数可能远远超过上个世纪损失的数百万人。