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exhausted themselves in over a hundred years of warfare. By the time the invasion was started, the war was already over. While the initial army could have been stopped by the combined international powers, it would have been a tiring event; as long as the battle was not a complete rout, Qin would have gained advantage.
That's my problem with your perception. It looks to the short-term, and is based on a bipolar or unipolar world view. The goal of your hypothetical government planner is to replace the United States as the pre-eminent world power. But being #1 for the sake of being #1, what good is it? Militarily speaking, budgets have to rise. The United States spends 4 percent of its GDP on its military, while nations under its aegis spends between 2 and 4 percent. By being the leader of the international system, you become accountable for its flaws. 9-11 happened first, terrorist attacks in Europe happened because of their support of the United States. And look at the example of the Soviet Union. It was a superpower through the virtue of its military, not through the virtue of its economy, culture, or technology. To maintain its status, its people endured famines, long lines for consumer goods. We spent them to death.
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