Psychology
Chapter 11: War (21 Lessons for the 21st Century)
There was a time when wars made sense to some politicians – it was when wars were profitable and easy. In 1914, the British controlled the Nile Valley and the Suez Canal for decades without much push back. The U.
There was a time when wars made sense to some politicians – it was when wars were profitable and easy. In 1914, the British controlled the Nile Valley and the Suez Canal for decades without much push back. The U.S won the war against Mexico, gained a landmass equivalent to Western Europe, for the price of only 13,000 men.
But these days, war is not an attractive proposition for large nations, although it still is one for non-state actors. The amount of wealth that can be gained by war is a fraction of what can be gained from a technologically advanced economy engaged in free trade.
If we look at the world, we will see that those who have waged wars in recent history have seldom benefited.
The Iraq-Iran war greatly harmed the Iranians and discouraged them from entering other direct confrontations. Iranian influence in the Middle East today is a result of the U.S war with Iraq which destroyed Iraq and pushed the U.S towards loosening their grip on the country, serving Iranian interests in the process.
Similarly, Israel has avoided direct confrontation with Syria, as they understand the damaging consequences of war. Capturing an oil field or arable land is not the prize it used to be. Today, it is far more exciting to build the next Google than it is to capture another oil field. The shift in value towards a silicon-based economy of bits and bytes has contributed to a more peaceful world.
Yet, human stupidity is to never be discounted. Otherwise rational leaders can make poor decisions simply because the world is too complex, and they do not properly understand the ramifications of their ideas.
The Japanese only managed to prosper after it lost control over Manchuria – and yet it was the reason they went to war with China in the first place.
Read 21 Lessons For The 21st Century
If you are interested in reading books about unmasking human nature, consider reading The Dichotomy of the Self, a book that explores the great psychoanalytic and philosophical ideas of our time, and what they can reveal to us about the nature of the self.
YARPP List
Related posts:
- Law 26: Keep Your Hands Clean (The 48 Laws of Power)
- Strategy 11: Trade Space for Time (The 33 Strategies of War)
- Strategy 19: Envelop the Enemy – The Annihilation Strategy (The 33 Strategies of War)
- Chapter 1: The Ottoman Empire (An Introduction to Middle East Politics)
Keep Reading
Related Articles
Psychology
An Exploration of Slavoj Žižek’s Fundamental Fantasy and the Split of Law
In his essay “Fundamental Fantasy and the Split of Law,” Slavoj Žižek offers a critique of Jacques Lacan’s thesis that the function of law is to mask the fundamental impossibility of human relationships.
Psychology
Law 8: Make Other People Come to You (The 48 Laws of Power)
If you want to be in control, you have to make your opponent come to you. Lure your opponents with what they helplessly desire. In 1814, the major European powers gathered to divide up the remains of Napoleon’s fallen empire. Napoleon had been sent to Elba, an island near the Italian coast.
Psychology
The 37 Percent Rule
If you’re looking for a house to buy, or you want to hire an employee, when should you stop searching? The rational answer would be to consider all options available, and then, by going through all the data, to choose the option that is superior to all the other options.
Psychology
Law 27: Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cult-like Following
### Law 27: Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cult-like Following *Giuseppe Borri* > “To become the founder of a new religion one must be psychologically infallible in one’s knowledge of a certain average type of souls who have not yet recognized that they belong toge