With national elections scheduled for spring, Mr. Singh's government faces political pressure to take some action against Pakistan, constrained by the knowledge that war and near-war in the past have not achieved the results that were sought.
Much later, after the Taliban had fallen, Britain regained centre-stage as the lead-nation in a small peacekeeping force.But does this mean that America's next air war will be constrained by British political influence, as the war against Serbia was restrained by France?
The American capacity to shape outcomes in Afghanistan, still less to create a state, is constrained by the way it won the war against the Taliban.
The story is the opening anecdote in "Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History," John Fabian Witt's sweeping history of American engagement with the idea that the brutality of war should be constrained by humanitarian rules.
Even as his ambassador to the United Nations predicts that the Syrian crisis will escalate to a regional war, Mr. Obama is constrained by limited options and a wariness at home about another military conflict.
Development of the offensive technology of war was not as constrained by technological and economic limitations as was defensive weaponry.
But in plotting how to raise the cost to Pakistan of its covert war in Kashmir, they remain constrained by the big unknown: how far can confrontation go before it turns nuclear?
Even during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Soviet leaders were constrained by the Politburo and memories of the second world war.
By Richard Brody December 13 , 2016Constrained by a flat and inexpressive script, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" lets neither its characters nor even its special effects come to life.
