I really enjoyed your overview and detail. I have found it hard to have some macro level historical discussions with people who cannot understand the human need to "redraw borders" every century or two.
I recall reading how disappointed Mussolini was when he went to "war" with Africans who only had spears and shields and not enough "roman" blood was spilt! He wanted a bloody war to go down in History - Italian blood.
You can even delve into the B.C. era of Caesar's expansion into Europe & Brittanica and so on .. and then every continent.
I like how you contemplate the importance that the current Leaders put upon their Historical "heroes" and how that motivates their current decision making.
Thank you for the post.
Thank you for the feedback. I'm kind of a plodding thinker, so writing is better for me than discussing. I like to mull over an idea. When I was younger, I was more confident of my responses. These days, I know some things for certain: cruelty and murder are wrong, for example. But I beyond that, I find myself in a questioning mode. It's a pleasure to get reasonable feedback such as yours. Thanks for that bit about Mussolini. It's not my first round with him and I am not at all surprised to hear of this thirst for bloodletting. A truly despicable man (who nonetheless has admirers!).