The seas are free and it's been 72 years since there was a major war anywhere in the world. Civil wars, proxy wars, and spats here and there, but there has been no war where thoroughly modern nations actually fought for their survival. The peace comes through American/NATO military strategy. Plenty of it has been stupid, mind you, but we've kept the world peace overall.
Though NATO we are in a large part the armed forces of Europe. They could certainly be a superpower with an equal military (and more people), but it isn't in America's, Europe's, or the world's interest to have both an American and European superpower – that sort of thing breeds conflict which isn't necessary or desired. Europe also isn't as stable or as old as America (this seems silly today, but the governments and borders of Europe haven't gotten age on them at all, and it's hard to imagine Europe actually attaining the unity necessary any time soon).
So here we are. We have big aircraft carriers that in a real shooting war with a comparable adversary would be useless, but that's not the point of them. They're about projecting NATO power around the world assuming that those sorts of wars aren't possible any more. Nuclear strikes and carriers at the beginning of that potential war makes it so costly to everyone that no one will start it. So we have peace.
You can think all you want about the potentials that haven't happened, and you can complain, sometimes rightfully, about the failures of American foreign policy, but you cannot deny that we have peace.
Part of that is because we build gigantic ridiculous ships.
Though NATO we are in a large part the armed forces of Europe. They could certainly be a superpower with an equal military (and more people), but it isn't in America's, Europe's, or the world's interest to have both an American and European superpower – that sort of thing breeds conflict which isn't necessary or desired. Europe also isn't as stable or as old as America (this seems silly today, but the governments and borders of Europe haven't gotten age on them at all, and it's hard to imagine Europe actually attaining the unity necessary any time soon).
So here we are. We have big aircraft carriers that in a real shooting war with a comparable adversary would be useless, but that's not the point of them. They're about projecting NATO power around the world assuming that those sorts of wars aren't possible any more. Nuclear strikes and carriers at the beginning of that potential war makes it so costly to everyone that no one will start it. So we have peace.
You can think all you want about the potentials that haven't happened, and you can complain, sometimes rightfully, about the failures of American foreign policy, but you cannot deny that we have peace.
Part of that is because we build gigantic ridiculous ships.