Europe should re-listen to its great ancestors. Thucydides, the Athenian general and historian who wrote almost 2,500 years ago, has a hard-won reputation as the father of political realism. And at a time of rising threats and uncertain alliances, that can be priceless in guiding the continent along a perilous path.
No battle is lost until it is fought, and Europe has many strengths. While it has blundered in its approach to the increasingly linked threats of Russia and China, it could still choose to reverse the situation through greater integration to enable large-scale force development.
Europe today finds itself caught in a strategic dilemma reminiscent of the Peloponnesian War of the fifth century BC. Led by Pericles, Athens’ opening strategy required continuing control of the sea and hiding safely behind its long walls until the Peloponnesians realized the futility of the war. The Peloponnesians, led by Sparta, were unable to breach Athens’ walls and focused on ravaging the land of Attica, hoping to induce a decisive battle.
If one believes Putin is a military threat bent on conquest, then Europe’s long walls are Ukraine. Ukraine favors what’s known as the Fabian approach — imposing the largest possible cost on Russia to render the war prohibitively expensive.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member