The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern
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convoy system, 169, 177, 180
cost-benefits of war: and alternatives to punitive war, 212, 213, 214; and American way of war, 152–53; and antiwar sentiment, 243; and decisive battles, 116–17, 121; explanations to public about, 186; and lessons learned from military history, 246; and Peloponnesian War, 91; and roots of war, 36, 39, 42; and spread of democracy, 192, 205, 210, 243; and study of military history, 15; and technology, 115, 116–17, 121, 126, 128
Council on Foreign Relations, 201
Crane, Stephen, 27
Crapsey, Edward, 176
Creasy, Edward S., 27
culture: antithetical, 190–92; confidence in one’s, 48; and democracy, 190–92; and interest in military history, 11–12; and military errors, 161; and moral equivalence, 223; and present as reflective of origins of war, 240; and spread of democracy, 207; tribal, 233; war as reflection of, 137–40, 141, 145, 147–48, 149, 150, 155; and Western advantages, 233
Cunaxa, battle of, 64, 65, 67, 105
Cyrus the Younger, 64–65, 67, 68, 69
Darfur, 33, 211, 238
Darius III, 34, 88
Das Boot (film), 11
death: and reasons for neglect of military history, 7–8. See also casualties
Death of a President (film), 218
Defoe, Daniel, 69
Delbrück; Hans, 27
democracy: and antithetical cultures, 190–92; and carnage of war, 202–3; challenges facing, 202–11; and civilian–military relationship, 188–90; and classical lessons about modern wars, 45–46, 85, 86, 93; and decisive battles, 113; definition of, 194; and democratic crusades, 193–95; and distrust of military, 188–90; and future of American warfare, 150, 151; and military coups, 191–92; and military liberalism, 192–93, 202; and military self-interest, 195–97; and nation-building, 199–202, 207–11; and new-isms, 224; Pericles’ funeral oration about, 215–16; in post-Cold War, 197–99; prerequisites for, 206; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 243; spread of, 195–211, 224; Thucydides’ views about, 86; and way of war in America, 140, 145, 146; and West as immune from foreign attack, 226; and Western advantages, 233, 234; and Western exceptionalism, 45–46
Demosthenes, 16, 217
Deng Xiaopin, 37
deterrence, 35, 38–39, 48, 246
Diodorus, 85, 92
diplomacy, 17, 38, 165, 220, 222, 246
Don Juan of Austria, 97–98
Douglas, Paul, 80
East Africa, U.S. embassies in, 115
Eastern Europe, 153, 165, 167
Egypt, 45, 46, 117
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 12, 141, 148, 166, 174
elections of 2008, U.S., 218
enemies: and alternatives to punitive war, 212–15; and asymmetrical wars, 213, 215, 227–32; and challenges to spread of democracy, 210; and constraints on military power, 212–13; as different, 46–47, 101; and future of American warfare, 150–51; humiliation of, 39–40, 177, 202–6; and military errors, 180–81, 184; and new-isms, 220–26; and security versus freedom, 215–20; and war as “human thing,” 156; and way of war in America, 150–51; and wealth versus poverty, 225–26; and Western advantages, 233–35
Enemy at the Gates (film), 11
England. See Great Britain
Enlightenment, 43, 44, 47
Epaminondas, 29, 133, 196
error, military: and acceptance of defeat, 187; and blame, 184; change in attitudes about, 183–87; and culture, 161; and enemies, 180–81; and home front, 179–82; and intelligence failures, 163, 164–67, 183; and leadership, 173–76; and lessons learned, 176–79, 186; and luck, 181; and media, 176, 178, 181–82, 185–86; and morality, 161; and perfection, 186; and public, 184; and strategic and tactical lapses, 167–71; and technology, 161, 162, 172, 179; and unintended consequences, 181; and victory, 183, 184, 186–87; and weapons, 172–73. See also specific war
Euripides, 27, 29, 34, 41, 52, 86, 231, 243
Europe: anti-Americanism in, 231; and asymmetrical wars, 231; as battlefield, 234–35; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; and isolationism in U.S., 153; and military errors, 168; and paradoxes of the present, 238; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 241. See also European Union; specific nation
European Union, 112, 113, 121, 196, 230, 241
exceptionalism: American, 78–79, 140; Western, 45–49, 221
Fahrenheit 911 (film), 218
Falkland Islands, 25, 36, 92, 109, 115, 238
Fallujah, Iraq, 10, 81, 163, 178, 203–4, 230
Fallujah (play), 203–4
Feifer, George, 78
Ferguson, Niall, 201
film, and security versus freedom, 218
Fitna (film), 218
Foch, Ferdinand, 21–22
Ford, Gerald, 6
Forrestal, James, 174
Fox News, 185
Fox, Robin Lane, 67, 69
France, 136, 167, 171, 172, 191, 217, 241
Franks, Tommy, 162
Fredendall, Lloyd, 175, 178
Frederick the Great, 14, 43
free markets, 45–46, 144
free speech, 41, 55, 215–20, 223, 225
freedom, 47, 140, 201, 204, 215–20, 221, 234. See also free markets; free speech
Freeman, Douglas Southall, 28
Fukuyama, Francis, 201
Fuller, J.F.C., 27
Fussel, Paul, 78
Gadhafi, Mu’ammar, 109, 182, 208, 209, 214
galley warfare, 100
Gallic Wars, 112
Gandhi, Mahatma, 7–8
Gatling, Richard, 172
Gaza, 228, 232, 237
genocide, 33, 119, 205, 208
Georgia, Russian invasion of, 37, 224, 237
Germany: and antithetical cultures, 191; and classical lessons about modern wars, 85, 86; and democracy, 193, 202, 210; and military culture, 191; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 240–41; public opinion about U.S. in 1945 in, 42; and Versailles Treaty, 22; way of war in, 143; and way of war in America, 150–51. See also Hitler, Adolph; World War I; World War II
Gettysburg, battle of, 9, 22–23, 107, 114, 115, 166
Gibbon, Edward, 31, 43
Gilbert, Martin, 29
globalization: and asymmetrical wars, 229; benefits of, 239; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 243; and democracy, 206; and future of battles, 115–20; and paradoxes of the present, 238, 239; and “revolution in military affairs” (RMA), 126–32; and technology, 126–32; and wealth versus poverty, 226; and Western advantages, 233
Gordon, Michael, 198
Gore, Al, 162
government, American distrust of central, 144
Grant, Ulysses S., 12, 27, 29, 87, 140–41, 145–46, 166, 171, 175, 178
Great Britain: and classical lessons about modern wars, 85–86; and democracy, 194; and Falklands, 92; and Iranian hostage-taking of British sailors, 39, 40; and Iraq War, 162; and military errors, 167, 171, 172; and paradoxes of the present, 238; and present wars as reflective of origins, 242; and Sudan, 130; and technology, 131; in Victorian and maritime eras, 85–86
Greeks: and classical lessons about modern wars, 33, 34, 36–37, 41, 45–46, 49; and contradictions and paradoxes of war, 246; culture of, 137–38; elected governments of, 54; freedom of expression among, 55; in Persian Wars, 27, 63–70; and present as reflective of origins of war, 239–43; and roots of war, 36–37, 41; and security versus freedom, 215–16. See also Athenians; Sparta; 300 (film); specific person, war, or battle
Grenada, 109, 115, 164, 185, 192, 193, 214
Grozny, battle of, 108, 114, 118, 178, 224
Guadalcanal, 79, 167
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, 155–56, 217, 218, 232
Gulf War (1991): and alternatives to punitive war, 213; and American way of war, 143, 148, 150; critiques of, 148, 198; and decisive battles, 108–9; and democracy, 197–98; and future of battles, 118; and laws of war, 133–34; media coverage of, 118, 213; and military errors, 165, 172, 181, 185; and military libe
ralism, 193; and nation-building, 201; and paradoxes of the present, 238; and technology, 133–34; and utility of military history, 15, 18; victory in, 21; weaponry in, 20
guns, ownership of, 144, 145
Haass, Richard, 201
Hagel, Chuck, 162
Haiti, 109, 185, 193
Halleck, Henry, 174, 175
Halliburton, 204, 232
Hamas, 117, 118, 208, 227, 231–32
Hanson, Victor, at Okinawa, 76
Hanson, Victor Davis: books by, 29, 106, 206; and decisive battles, 106; educational background of, 4–5, 31, 56–57; family background of, 25; at Fresno, 11, 31, 55, 56, 57–58; and prerequisites for democracy, 206
Hastings, Max, 11
hate, and roots of war, 38
Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 70
hearts and minds, war for, 106, 150, 155, 199, 227, 228, 233
Herodotus, 6, 32, 50, 52, 53–54, 66, 193, 216
Hersh, Seymour, 176
Hezbollah, 117, 118, 227, 230, 231–32
Hitler, Adolf: and antithetical cultures, 191; biography of, 29; and classical lessons about modern wars, 85, 91; end of Weimar Republic by, 191; and Germany as democracy, 202; and military errors, 167–68, 180; and morality of military history, 25; and reasons for war, 18, 37;
Hitler, Adolf
U.S. actions compared with, 232; and utility of military history, 14, 15, 16; way of war of, 143, 144; where to start studying about, 29
Holocaust, 119
Homeland Security Department, U.S., 220
Homer, 27, 119, 243
Honduras, 195
Horne, Alistair, 28, 29
Hostage-taking, 39–40
hot spots, potential, 237–38
human nature: and American way of war, 154–57, 181; and future of war, 243, 246; and military error, 162; and reasons for war, 7; and roots of war, 40; Sledge’s views about, 72; and study of military history, 7, 27; Thucyides’s assessment of, 57, 66, 90; as unchanging, 81, 133, 243, 246; and war as “human thing,” 91, 154–57
“human thing,” war as, 91, 154–57
Huntington, Samuel P., 28, 189
Hussein, Saddam: and alternatives to punitive war, 214; capture of, 182; and nation-building, 209; and reasons for war, 18; removal of, 14, 21, 22, 148, 201, 210, 243; and renewal of interest in Xenophon, 67; and utility of military history, 14. See also Gulf War (1991); Iran-Iraq War; Iraq War
idealism, 29, 211, 233
India, 113, 114, 207, 238, 242
Indonesia, 207, 224
insurgencies: and alternatives to punitive war, 214, 215; and American way of war, 150; and asymmetrical wars, 228–29; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; and decisive battles, 109; and demonization of U.S. military, 203; in Iraq War, 124, 162, 178–79, 203; and military error, 162, 178–79; and military liberalism, 192; and nation-building, 201; and spread of democracy, 192, 201, 203; and technology, 124; and Western advantages, 233
intelligence, failure in, 163, 164–67, 183
international law, 241
International Year of Peace (1986), 44
Internet, 47–48, 115, 126, 206, 239, 244
interrogation techniques, 156
Ionian War, 36, 41
Iran: anti-Americanism in, 209; and asymmetrical wars, 227, 229, 230; and constraints on military power, 213; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; and decisive battles, 112; and democracy, 197, 198; and future of battles, 117, 120; hostage-taking by, 39–40, 209; and military errors, 163, 168, 183, 184; and military liberalism, 193; and nation-building, 200, 209; nuclear power of, 227; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 240; and return of battles, 121; and roots of war, 38–39; and technology, 125; and 300 film, 51; U.S. relations with, 38–39; and Western advantages, 234
Iran-Iraq War (1980–89), 108, 167, 238
Iraq: boycotts and embargoes on, 202; and future of battles, 114, 117; 1998 bombing of, 213; peacekeeping in, 210; sectarian violence in, 114
Iraq War: and alternatives to punitive war, 213, 214; as asymmetrical war, 227, 228, 230, 232; casualties in, 13, 16, 24, 166, 183, 204, 210, 230, 243; and civilian-military relationship, 190; and classical lessons about modern wars, 67, 85; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; criticisms of U.S. concerning, 203–5; and decisive battles, 109; and democracy, 190, 193, 197, 198, 199, 203, 204–5, 234, 243; as “different,” 162; insurgency in, 124, 162, 178–79, 203; and military errors, 162, 163, 164, 173–74, 175, 176, 177–79, 181–82, 183, 184, 185; and military liberalism, 192, 193, 202; and nation-building, 200, 201, 202, 209, 210; and new-isms, 223–24; and paradoxes of the present, 237, 238; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 243; public sentiment about, 23–24, 230, 243; and redefinition of war, 235; and roots of war, 36, 42, 43; and security versus freedom, 218; and study of military history, 9, 12, 13; and Syria, 17; and technology, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128–29; terrorists in, 124; 300 as allegory for, 51; and utility of military history, 14, 15; and varieties of war, 25; victory in, 20, 22; and way of war in America, 143, 149; and Western advantages, 234; and WMD, 164, 182; World War II compared with, 13. See also Hussein, Saddam
Islam/Muslims: and asymmetrical wars, 229, 231; caricatures of, 219; and classical lessons about modern wars, 38, 41, 47; and future of battles, 115; and military errors, 168, 181; and new-isms, 220–25; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 241; and roots of war, 38, 41; and security versus freedom, 219, 220; sixteenth-century, 94–101; and spread of democracy, 206–7; and Western advantages, 233; and Western exceptionalism, 47. See also specific person, nation or organization
isolationism, 152–53, 230
Israel: and asymmetrical wars, 227, 229, 230, 231; bombing of Syrian nuclear reactor by, 17; and decisive battles, 109, 112; and future of battles, 117, 118; and military errors, 165; and nation-building, 209; and security versus freedom, 219–20. See also Six-Day War (1967)
Italy, 150, 175, 193, 210. See also Lepanto, Battle of
Iwo Jima, 75, 111, 167, 246
Japan: and democracy, 193, 194, 202, 210; militarists in, 41; and morality of military history, 25; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 242; and roots of war, 37; surrender of, 75; and Tsushima (1905), 130; and way of war in America, 150–51; and World War II, 25, 37, 72–82, 202
Jellicoe, John, 107
Johnson, Louis, 7, 174, 189
Johnson, Lyndon, 232
Johnstad, Kurt, 51
Jordan, 163, 183
Jutland, Battle of, 107, 108
Kagan, Donald, 29, 87, 89, 90–93
Kagan, Frederick, 111, 127–29, 135
Kagan, Robert, 29
Kant, Immanuel, 34
Kaplan, Robert, 199
Keegan, John, 8, 11, 28, 29, 78, 105–6
Kennedy, Edward “Ted,” 223
Kennedy, John F., 6, 232
Kershaw, Ian, 29
Khan, A. Q., 182
Khomeini, Ayatollah, 108, 167, 209
Kim Jong Il, 109–10, 208, 222
King, Ernest, 169, 177
Knox, Thomas, 176
Korean War: casualties in, 170; and Chinese invasion of Korea, 13–14; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; decisive battles in, 108; and democracy, 198; and military errors, 165, 170–71, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 180; and military liberalism, 192, 193; and neglect of study of military history, 13–14; and paradoxes of the present, 238; public opinion about, 23, 24; and technology, 124; and way of war in America, 147, 148. See also North Korea; South Korea
Kosovo, 193, 197
Kuwait, 163. See also Gulf War (1991)
leadership, 28–29, 127, 173–76, 188–90, 222, 235
Lebanon, 17, 115, 117, 193, 227, 228, 230, 232, 237
lebensraum, 18, 36, 91
Lee, John C.H., 175
Lee, Robert E., 9, 28, 115
LeMay, Curtis, 141, 155, 178, 181, 189, 190–91
Leonidas, 51, 53, 54
Lepanto, battle of, 94–101, 105
Liddell Hart, Basil H., 16
Lincoln, Abraham, 22–23, 28, 107, 171, 174, 177, 217
literature, and security versus freedom, 218–19
Livy, 6, 181, 238
“The Loneliness of the Military Historian” (Atwood poem), 10, 18
The Long March (Fox), 67–69
Longford, Elizabeth, 28
Lovett, Robert, 174
Lucas, John, 175
Luisitania (ship), 165
Lynch, Jessica, 185
Lysander, 88, 93
Ma, John, 67
MacArthur, Douglas, 24, 75–76, 170, 175, 176, 189
Machiavelli, Niccolò, 30, 181
MacNeice, Louis, 70
Manchester, William, 78
Manhattan Project, 144
Mao Tse-Tung, 15, 67, 119, 170
Marathon, Battle at, 16, 27, 34, 36, 64, 88, 105, 246
Marcos, Ferdinand, 168, 197
Marne, battle of the, 111
Marshall, George, 174
McCarthy, Joseph, 174
McClellan, George, 23, 141, 174, 189
McCullough, David, 11, 29
McMaster, H. R., 28
McPherson, James, 11, 29
McVeigh, Timothy, 224
media: and alternatives to punitive war, 213, 214, 215; and asymmetrical wars, 231–32; and classical lessons about modern wars, 85; and humiliation of enemy, 205–6; and military errors, 176, 178, 181–82, 185–86; and new-isms, 223; and security versus freedom, 219; as sensationalism, 185–86; and technology, 135; and Western advantages, 233
medical science, 242
Mediterranean, in sixteenth-century, 94–101
Meiggs, Russell, 68
Mexican-American War, 111, 165
Meyer, Eduard, 91
Middle East: and alternatives to punitive war, 214; and asymmetrical wars, 229–30, 231; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; culture of, 233; and democracy, 198, 206–7; and military errors, 172; and nation-building, 201, 207; and paradoxes of the present, 237, 238; quality of life in, 229–30; and technology, 131; views about U.S. in, 42; and Western advantages, 233; where to start studying about, 28. See also Islam/Muslims; specific person, nation, or war
militarism, fear of, 191
military: and antithetical cultures, 190–92; as change agents, 195; civilian relationship with, 188–90; constraints on, 212, 241; coups by, 191–92; criticisms of Western, 243; and democracy, 195–97; distrust of, 188–90; preparedness of, 17, 43, 48, 217, 222, 246; racial and gender integration in, 195; and “revolt of the generals,” 189–90; self-interest of, 195–97; using full force of, 203–4