#33 Samuël Kruizinga: "Easy Wars" Are a Fantasy.

There is no "magic button" in war.From naval blockades in the Strait of Hormuz to precision air strikes and economic sanctions, military planners constantly search for a magic button — a way to achieve decisive political victory without mass casualties or drawn-out ground conflicts. But history shows that shortcuts in warfare rarely deliver on their promises. In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus speaks with Samuël Kruizinga, a historian at the University of Amsterdam who specializes in the history of wars, blockades, and sanctions. They explore why quick-fix strategic thinking consistently fails—examining US actions against Iran, naval scenarios around Taiwan, and lessons from World War I and World War II—before arriving at a sobering conclusion: when trying to affect political change through military force, there is no substitute for boots on the ground.