War and History

This ventures outside of the realm of Roman occupation but I found this video to very intriguing. The discussion covers Dr. Hanson's book "The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern".  Dr. Hanson is a classicist and military historian and in this talk examines how the American way of war is distinctive as compared to nations in the past.

Dr. Hanson starts off with the idea that war is inseparable from the human condition, a sort of intrinsic condition present in all people.  One idea he holds is that Americans lack a basic understanding of military issues saying that it comes from a sense of optimism and that with enough effort we can change the nature of man. But this idea has been present through most of Western civilization. The idea was always to relieve world tensions through different law and protocols. One of the most interesting quotes is, "Victory goes to those not who make mistakes, but those who make the fewest mistakes and press on and learn from their lapses." I have to agree with this idea. When viewing war as a whole you have to expect losses; it would be ignorant not to.  Even if you do not agree with the reasons of a war, this is certainly a way to win a war.

He also relates the modern American military to other ancient Western civilizations. The key similarity, he feels, is the sense of democracy.  That the military of these civilizations is not subject to authoritarian rule.  He says it reflects a society in which people participate. One example he uses is a testimony of a Spartan hoplite stopping his unit from drifting to the right. Its this flow of ideas through the military ranks that he argues strengthens the military overall.

The most apparent idea that Dr. Hanson focuses on is learning from past military history. In this way he makes a direct connection to the past. We can learn what will work and what will not. By using the ideas of war through history, we can gain important insight into how exactly war should be waged. This starts to venture into the realm of what constitutes a just war and how a war should be fought which is a path I will not begin to go down. Overall, this is great discussion.  And while I may not agree with all of the statements, I do believe this makes interesting connections to the history of war and how it applies to us as Americans today.