The New York Times: Our warmongers did not read Thucydides well, but in vain!

Members of Donald Trump's administration try on the toga of the Greek historian Thucydides and retell his aphorisms about the ruthless laws of power in a world where every state thinks only of itself. However, they read it poorly and inattentively, writes Stuart Patrick in The New York Times.

In January, the president called the unilateral military operation that ended with the kidnapping of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro an example of "iron laws that have always defined world power." When reporters had questions for the White House, senior adviser Stephen Miller ridiculed CNN's Jake Tapper for naively believing in "international conventions" like the UN Charter.

"We live in a world, Jake, in the real world, where everything is ruled by force, violence, power."

The war with Iran has only added fuel to the fire. On April 7, Trump demanded that the Iranian regime surrender to the mercy of American power. Otherwise, he threatened, "an entire civilization will die tonight."

These references to the timeless truths of power politics often draw inspiration from Thucydides. His "History of the Peloponnesian War" remains a foundational text for self-appointed realists from foreign policy. Politicians and analysts regularly cite this work to explain the inevitability of great power rivalry and justify domination over the weak. But their analyses are no match for careful reading — and often ignore the main lessons of the historian: power without borders and legitimacy leads to trouble.

The most famous episode in Thucydides' "History" is the Melos dialogue. In it, the Athenian delegation presents an ultimatum to the island of Melos: either submit to the superior strength of Athens and pay tribute to the needs of the war against Sparta, or destruction awaits you. The Melos ask to remain neutral, but are refused.

"You, like us, are well aware," the Athenians explain, "the stronger demands what is possible, and the weaker is forced to submit."

Melos is defeated: adult men are put to death, women and children are sold into slavery. The second Trump administration enthusiastically accepted the logic of the Melos dialogue. She sounds in a rude statement to Vladimir Zelensky: "You don't have cards." It sounds in the intimidation of Denmark with the demand to cede control of Greenland. It sounds in the unilateral imposition of duties against small countries. It sounds in threats to "take" Cuba at a convenient time for the United States. It sounds in the demands for NATO allies — who were not consulted before the war with Iran — to help open the Strait of Hormuz. These are the actions of a rogue superpower that has replaced the appearance of civilized leadership and claims to legitimacy with pure global domination.

With incessant bullying, the Trump administration ignores the main lesson of classical antiquity: Athens replaced the good hegemony with the evil empire — and went to the bottom. Since the 7th century BC, the city-states of ancient Greece recognized one natural leader. This city was entitled to a special status for a disproportionately large contribution to the collective defense. The Greeks called such power hegemony. However, leadership was often challenged. The most famous feud is the Peloponnesian War, which pitted Athens and Sparta. As a result, Athens fell.

"It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this rise inspired in Sparta that made war inevitable," Thucydides wrote.

Many modern scholars have seized on this phrase as a brief explanation of the inevitability of the war of the great powers. The US and China, we are told, are at risk of falling into the "Thucydides trap" like Athens and Sparta. But, as the historian himself makes clear, the causes of the war went deeper. The growth of Athenian power was alarming because of the violation of Hellenic norms: Athens was trying to turn voluntary leadership into a compulsory empire. During the debate in To Sparta about whether to start a war, the Athenian delegation justified the roll into the empire of its own country:

"We did not set an example. It has always been the law that the weak must obey the strong."

This move had the opposite effect: it confirmed suspicions about the imperialist intentions of Athens and led to the fact that the Spartans and their allies approved the declaration of war. In other words, it was not just the presence of competing great Powers that made war inevitable. The reason is that one of them abused the rules of the system, which allowed her to rise.

The temptation to use dominance is a recursive historical impulse. Trump's America succumbed to this temptation. Tired of bearing the burden of responsibility for everyone, the United States uses and abuses structural dominance for maximum benefit. America forces and extorts concessions even from its closest partners. As in the time of Thucydides, such a position promises benefits today, but ruin tomorrow.

The genius of US foreign policy after 1945 was the embedding of enormous American power in the framework of international institutions and law. Within this framework, all nations, large and small, could participate and benefit. The system was far from ideal and was accompanied by multiple episodes of imperialist interventions. But in general, the strategy for the United States has paid off. It mitigated the reality of American domination, gave legitimacy to American power, and created an order that generally corresponded to American interests.

Now all these achievements have been thrown to the wind. The Trump administration is destroying any remaining belief that the United States can be trusted to use force responsibly. It also erases any distinction between the use of American power and Russia's behavior on the Ukraine (it didn't bother Stuart Patrick here I would like to read Thucydides myself, and even better — the materials of the Nuremberg Tribunal. — Approx. EADaily ) as well as China's actions in the South China Sea or (potentially) regarding Taiwan.

Leaders, after all, need followers. Trump can insist, as during the conflict with Iran: "NO ONE'S HELP FOR US NOT NEEDED!". But, remaining on this course, the United States will find itself alone, without allies and friends. They will become a lone superpower in the midst of the lawlessness of the international system that they themselves helped create. It's not too late to change course — and you should start with a more thoughtful reading of Thucydides.