Thucydides: On Leadership (The Melian Dialogue) 8/22/17

Thucydides: warrior, strategist, scholar, ethicist, political scientist* The seminal book by Thucydides on the Peloponnesian war, 431-404 BCE, teaches about leadership through his history of the war. In the last few weeks we looked at Brasidas, Cleon, Pericles, King Archidamus and Alcibiades. Today we look at Thucydides himself. Thucydides' work is still relevant to us, over two thousand years later, because he pioneered two important fields, historical analysis and the "realist" approach to political science. Thucydides intended his work to be "a possession for all time" so he crafts his narrative of the war in such a way to teach principals that can be drawn from the story. One of the most important is the Melian dialogue where he tells the story of a small island community located on key terrain and in a strategic part of the conflict area. Though this community was neutral in the war the Athenians invaded and gave them this ultimatum; either join us and pay tribute or we will kill the men and enslave the women and children. The Melians responded that they are not a threat to Athens so why should they not remain friends, neither allies of Athens or Sparta? The Athenians responded that Melian weakness is a threat because if Melos did not yield others would think Athens weak. They concluded the dialogue with these famous words "the strong do what they will, and the weak suffer what they must."* This is cited as the basis of the "structural realist" position in political theory. During the Cold War many advanced this theory and it even became the basis for American foreign policy in the post WWII bipolar world. Thucydides is a "master" of strategic thought because he makes his readers think deeply about both the practical and the ethical sides of the use of power.** More than just telling a "war story" he challenges leaders to consider the actions and interactions of the participants and how various decisions led to the decline (and after his death, downfall) of the Greek world. *This is only a thumbnail summary/paraphrase of the dialogue which run several pages. ** Wilson relates how the study of Thucydides became a stand in for Vietnam during the 60/70s at the Naval War College since it mirrors the stand-off of two great powers and what happened when one opened a new front in that conflict. (See Wilson below) Army Leadership Doctrine: ADRP 6-22, 11-71 says, "Strategic leaders...are responsible for developing well-reasoned positions and provide advice to the nation's highest leaders." The civil-military dialogue is the pinnacle of military leadership and leaders such as George Marshall and Colin Powell have cited Thucydides as important to understanding the modern geo-political world. Tomorrow's senior leaders are today's Cadets and Lieutenants; it's never too soon to prepare minds for the challenges ahead. *This reflection is based on my own personal reading of Thucydides, see The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War, by Robert B. Strassler ed. or The Peloponnesian War: Oxford World's Classics, Rhodes and Hammon Trans., or The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan; or The Great Courses, Masters of War: History's Greatest Strategic Thinkers by Andrew R. Wilson, lecture 2 and 3. Much more about Alcibides is also found in the book by Plutarch by the same title. ** For a religious thought consider Leviticus 19:33-35 and Galatians 6:10. From a human and spiritual perspective (non-theistic) consider http://www.existentialbuddhist.com/tag/melian-dialogue/