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It's crazy how little the borders change after WW2 compared to all the rest of history.

Makes me wonder how long this period of peace will last.

Just after nuclear bombs were invented.

Coincidence? I say not.

True, but other things came about around that time as well, like the United Nations, or the rise of secularism/atheism/laicism, or the fact that the power game changed away from the national-state level (the map does not show the territorial gains and losses of the Communist block, or the European Union), or that a combination of the US rising and European countries losing basically all their colonies meant that the power game shifted away from Europe.

> the United Nations

They are useless. They did nothing to stop Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, or the war that followed and is stil ongoing. They did nothing to stop Yugoslav wars here, earlier in 1990-s.

IMO the 2nd most significant thing after the nukes is global economy. Most countries are ruled by reasonable people who understand you can’t simultaneously bomb people and trade with the same people. Economic activities like trading and investments are far more profitable than fighting wars, even if you win these wars.

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