Nuclear war clouds are forming over North Korea and Iran.
Both countries are at the heart of dangerous scenarios of immovable object vs. overwhelming force. Pyongyang and Tehran are firmly committed to their nuclear weapons programs as cornerstones of their foreign and domestic policies. But The United States, South Korea and Japan are reaching the breaking point on their tolerance of North Korea's pursuit of a fully equipped nuclear arsenal. And Israel views an Iranian nuclear bomb as a clear and present threat to its existence.
With the warning signs of warfare on a grand scale so clear, it's helpful to recall wisdom about war from two of its greatest students, Italian political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli and Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. Here are some relevant offerings from Sun's "The Art of War" (written around 500 BC) and Machiavelli's "The Prince" (1505):
Sun Tzu: "The Art of War"
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
“There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.”
“Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.”
Niccolo Machiavelli: "The Prince"
"A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their states. And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire a state is to be master of the art. ...
"But to exercise the intellect the prince should read histories, and study there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they have borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of their victories and defeat, so as to avoid the latter and imitate the former; and above all do as an illustrious man did, who took as an exemplar one who had been praised and famous before him, and whose achievements and deeds he always kept in his mind, as it is said Alexander the Great imitated Achilles, Caesar Alexander, Scipio Cyrus. ... A wise prince ought to observe some such rules, and never in peaceful times stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way that they may be available to him in adversity, so that if fortune chances it may find him prepared to resist her blows."
No comments:
Post a Comment