War & Peace Quote by Chris Hedges

Hedges frames war like a franchise: not a tragedy that shocks us into change, but a serialized product that reliably returns because the audience never demands a rewrite. That sly “next installment” isn’t just a metaphor; it’s an indictment of a culture that treats war as periodic programming - something to be consumed, commemorated, then replaced by the next crisis. The line works because it collapses the distance between battlefield and living room, implying that passivity at home is one of war’s renewable resources.

The key verb is “dissect.” Hedges isn’t calling for vague soul-searching or bipartisan commissions that politely file blame under “complexity.” He’s arguing for an autopsy: Who profits, who gains political cover, which myths get activated (honor, security, inevitability), which populations are rendered disposable. “Failure” suggests this isn’t ignorance, it’s negligence - a refusal to look too closely because the answers implicate institutions people rely on: governments, media, even national identity.

As a journalist shaped by conflicts in Central America, the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Hedges is pushing back against the cycle he watched up close: initial moral certainty, curated storytelling, then amnesia once the costs become undeniable. The subtext is that war persists not only because leaders lie, but because systems reward those lies and punish sustained attention. If we don’t perform the dissection ourselves, someone else will keep scripting the sequel - with familiar villains, familiar slogans, and fresh bodies to make it feel new.