All hindsight is 20/20. But exceptionally keen seems to be historical hindsight. Japanese military postal cards and covers from the Russo-Japanese war and the period leading up to WW II seem exceptionally jingoistic and war admiring. The pervasiveness of militaristic themes was constant. The same was true of Third Reich philately. It always strikes me as odd when people believe that nations will act in what those people believe to be a country's self interest, rather than believe those countries plan to do exactly what they say they are going to do. For years Germany and Japan extolled war and militarism as their preferred policy for what they wanted. Some people wanted to believe that their real interest was different and that they wouldn't do, when they could, what they said they were going to do. We have concrete philatelic examples, that tie into history, that this was a delusion. Politicians and leaders try to do what they they say they are going to do. Always have and always will. When Iran says that it is developing a nuclear capacity and that it wants to destroy Israel and the Great Satan (that's us), they mean what they say. They may be inhibited from using the weapon by our overwhelming retaliatory capacity but their intention is to use it and to do what they said they were going to do. Never believe that what a politician says to get into power isn't exactly what he plans to do once he is in power.