THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, U.S.A.
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 151, June 6, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WAR & THE CURRENT CRISIS: WAR AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ANCIENT
GREEKS -- A BRIEFING PRESENTED TO THE MIDDLE EAST FORUM
By Dr. Victor Davis Hanson
May 5, 2003
To better understand the nature of conflict requires an understanding of history, and none is better than of classical Greece.
The ancients accepted the realities of war and sought to learn its lessons.
In the current circumstances, the ancient Greeks can offer contemporary leaders a valuable analytical tool for such questions as:
What are the root causes of war? Why do wars break out? What factors determine the victor and vanquished? How do
wars end? And why do affluent societies especially detest war?
WHAT ARE The ROOT CAUSES OF WAR?
The Greeks rejected many of the current modern interpretations regarding the origins of war.
Firstly, the Greeks rejected the notion that war is rare. Heraclites once declared, "War is the father of us all."
Echoing the Greeks, the Romans held the notion of bellum interruptus, or period between clashes. This notion demonstrates
that the Romans, like the Greeks, viewed war as a normal part of life.
This view did not indicate any admiration of violence, but recognized that war cannot be excised from the human condition,
that it is a permanent dimension of our existence.
Secondly, the Greeks would, without reservation, strongly rebut the now-prevalent idea that war results from material
grievances or socioeconomic disparity. During the fifth century, Athens was at war three out of every four years and
seventy-five per- cent of those conflicts centered on border disputes. Upon closer inspection of these struggles, one
finds that the actual territories fought over were strategically worth- less. The true sources of the clash were rooted in
differences of honor, status, fear, and prestige.
Two modern examples of this concept are discernible in the motivations behind the Falklands War and the current
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Falkland Islands were not a major strategic asset for Great Britain, but allowing an
aggressor a foothold on her sovereign territory was an affront to her sense of prestige requiring a forceful response.
Similarly, the Palestinian campaign of terror against Israel does not result from the Israeli presence on the West Bank,
but is part of a larger struggle that con- cerns honor, status, and fear.
WHY DO WARS BREAK OUT ?
Wars begin when the attacker expects acceptable costs in relation to the benefits of fulfilling his objectives,
whether rational or irrational, perceived or actual. Wars do not materialize when the price exacted by action is
expected to be too high.
A Greek episode demonstrating this principle is readily found in the Spartan assault of 431 B.C.E. The Spartans
struck because fifteen years earlier they had entered Attica and the Athenians, failing to vigorously respond,
conveyed a clear message– effective retaliation would not follow aggression.
Likewise, Saddam Hussein invaded and conquered Kuwait, believing that the reper- cussions from the West
would not be serious, and his assessment was accurate. The first Gulf War did not end with U.S. or other
allied forces occupying Iraqi soil, nor was Saddam Hussein (or the Iraqi people as a whole) made to feel
defeated after being expelled from Kuwait.
In another part of the Arab world, Palestinians continue to murder Israeli civilians, believing exhaustive
violence will force their capitulation. They base this on Israel's lack of military retaliation after 39 SCUD
missiles landed within its territory during the first Gulf War, the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from southern
Lebanon, and the astonishing offer made at Camp David by the Barak government. These events have
generally been perceived by the Arab world as indicators of a weak national charac- ter.
WHAT FACTORS DICTATES OUTCOMES?
To predict victor and vanquished in a war, traditional analysis considers personal leadership, tactics,
logistics, weaponry, and so on. These individual factors remain valid, but the West is in a unique position,
by virtue of some key cultural factors, that give it a military edge:
(1) Its steadfast commitment to a secular society and the disconnect of research from politics,
philosophy, and religion.
(2) Western methods of warfare and planning are subject to relentless civic cri- tiques. Again,
the ancient Greeks provide historical similarities. In a 300-year period, rarely was a Greek general not
punished, exiled, or executed for his failures. Indeed, Pericles was fined and even he, the
brilliant commander, who had subjugated the whole of the Peloponnesus, later stood on trial
for his very life.
(3) The Western marriage of capitalism and the scientific tradition results in superior military
technology.
These cultural factors, often overlooked, allowed the British to conquer the fierce Zulu lands in nine months
while Cortez, likewise, brought huge swaths of Latin Amer- ica under Spanish influence.
HOW DO WARS END?
Wars do not truly end until the reasons they were fought are extinguished. The Athe- nians and Spartans battled each
other for over 27 years, and the end did not truly arrive until Spartan soldiers stood, as conquerors, on the Athenian
Acropolis.
World War I was, in many ways, an unresolved war. The German army was never truly defeated and German
soil was never conquered. Worse was the Allied decision in 1918 to impose a harsh regime onto a German people who
had not felt a firm sense of defeat. These factors fanned the flames of German nationalism that the Nazis were easily
able to exploit. A second global war was needed to completely eradicate the German quest for hegemony. The Second
World War's resolution bore little resem- blance to that of the earlier war. The allied armies conquered German soil,
and there is little doubt that the German people felt a firm sense of defeat.
In terms of the current challenge to our own national security, one need only look back at the various acts of militant
Islamic terrorism committed against the U.S.A. and judge the efficacy of our responses. Time and time again the deaths
of Americans --in Somalia, in the Khobar Tower bombing, in the East African embassy bombings, in the Cole bombing--was
met with feckless reprisals. The Clinton administration never fully utilized decisive force to effectively deal with the
menace of militant Islam. In short, war was declared on us, but we did not fight to win, while the enemy continued to
strike.
WHY DO AFFLUENT SOCITIES SHY AWAY FROM SUCH NOTIONS OF WAR?
This question is of particular importance, for it affects free and affluent nations across the West. The Greeks firmly
cbelieved that "license," or material wealth, produced hubris, a type of arrogance that views force as archaic and
incompatible with econom- ic power. The Greeks often lamented that, with intellectual progress, comes moral regress.
Such ideas clearly threaten the survival of free societies. To guard against and deter future attacks, we must see our
culture as unique and imbued with a sense of purpose. We must see our cause and civilization as something worth fighting for.
The paragraphs above constitute a summary account of the May 6, 2003, briefling by Dr. Victor Davis Hanson. The summary
account was written by Zachary Constantino, a research assistant at the Middle East Forum. The original version of this summary account can
be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Dr. Victor Davis Hanson is professor of classics at California State University in Fresno. He also writes a bi-weekly column on
contemporary culture and military history for NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE. He has written or edited eleven books and he appears
frequently on national television. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Mr. Hanson spoke to the Middle East
Forum in Philadelphia on February 26, 2003, and in New York on May 6, 2003.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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