Indeed, while wars from the time of Hannibal’s defeat of the Romans in 216 B.C. to the Gulf War of 1991 had this center of gravity, with a massive concentration of force capable of bringing an enemy to its knees, such industrial inter-state wars have now become an historical anachronism. Most states nowadays lie within borders that are widely accepted as legitimate, and they increasingly abide by international norms of behavior in times of war.
的确，尽管从公元前216年汉尼拔击溃罗马人到1991年的海湾战争都有一个这样的重心（其表现是能对敌方施以毁灭性打击的军事力量的大规模集中），而这种工业化的国家间战争现在已经成为历史陈迹。现今大多数国家都有被广泛认可的合法边界，它们在战争时期也越来越遵守国际规范和行为准则。