literally one of the biggest components of sun tzus art of war is exactly that.
“the supreme art of war is to subdue your enemy without fighting”
essentially, if you have an enemy, and can work things out democratically, or in other non violent ways, then you win. if you cannot do that, you have failed, and have to wage a traditional war, which is costly to both sides. and thus should be avoided.
literally one of the biggest components of sun tzus art of war is exactly that.
“the supreme art of war is to subdue your enemy without fighting”
essentially, if you have an enemy, and can work things out democratically, or in other non violent ways, then you win. if you cannot do that, you have failed, and have to wage a traditional war, which is costly to both sides. and thus should be avoided.
Asimov also had this concept baked into the foundation series. “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent”.