1930s-1940s: The world falls into its second global conflict in thirty years, and it looks like international war will be the nature of the modern world.

Today: Conflicts tend to be small, regional affairs. One side might be able to assemble a coalition or a mission of United Nations forces from around the world, but it has never been met with a similar international force.

1930s-1940s: News about events in other countries travels by radio broadcasts, leaving much about other nations to the imagination. After World War II, broadcasters and consumers begin investing heavily in television: from 1945 to 1948 the number of U.S. homes with TVs rises from 5000 to a million, and by 1950, 8 million sets have been sold.

Today: News about world events travels faster on the Internet than news organizations can prepare it for broadcast.

1940s: World War II ends when...