It strikes me that this is the more important observation to take from his essay, rather than the question of whether it is unusual for countries to strike pre-emptively.

The players would strike pre-emptively before the owners could declare a legal impasse in the talks and implement their cap for next season.

It announces that we will strike pre-emptively and unilaterally against any nation that we define as a threat.

The Israelis decided to strike pre-emptively, before it was too late: in a spectacular display of precision bombing, the reactor at Osirak was destroyed.

Conventional wisdom said, then, that the Fed should strike pre-emptively against inflation.

A brave self-reliance also gave Israel the power to strike pre-emptively when disaster loomed, without asking any other nation's permission.

The Arab-Israeli war of 1967 surely would not have gone nearly so well for Israel had it not struck pre-emptively.

"Don't strike pre-emptively at the cost of the person on foot," Elizabeth Starkey, co-chairwoman of the parks committee, said.

It can strike pre-emptively.

Their deployment will therefore create a volatile environment; in a crisis, a nation like Israel might be tempted to strike pre-emptively.