preemptive war
Strike before struck
A preemptive war is a military attack launched to neutralize a perceived threat before it materializes.
The attacking nation strikes first, claiming the enemy was about to attack or posed imminent danger: The administration argued for preemptive war against nations developing weapons of mass destruction.
Distinguished from preventive war, which targets a more distant, hypothetical threat, though the terms often blur in political rhetoric.
- warmongerAdvocate for armed conflict
- warArmed struggle between groups
- Bush DoctrinePost-9/11 foreign policy stance
- axis of evilNamed hostile state grouping
- weapons of mass destructionArms causing widespread casualties
unilateralism · brinkmanship · self-defense · military necessity · national security · preventive action · proportionality · regime change · casus belli · declaration of war · shock and awe · coalition of the willing · imminent threat · rules of engagement · troop surge · first strike · counterinsurgency · military strategy
- strategystrategy, grand strategy, tactics, tactic, tactical
- WarsWorld War I, WWI, civil war, cold war, Korean War
- War on TerrorOsama bin Laden, IED, Guantanamo, regime change, troop surge
- Neoconservatismneocons, interventionism, regime change, Bush Doctrine, Iraq War
preemptive warcounterattack
Offensive response to aggression
retaliatory strike · defensive war · counteroffensive · retaliation · second strike
preemptive wardiplomacy
Negotiation between nations
negotiated settlement · appeasement · peaceful coexistence · pacifism · non-intervention
preemptive warcontainment
Preventing hostile expansion
deterrence · isolationism · non-aggression pact · fortress defense · passive defense
preemptive, preempt, preemption, preemptively, exempt, exemption, redemption, redeem, warring