Similarly to the Athenian army during the Golden Age of Athens, the United States today is with little doubt the dominant military superpower of our time. As officers in the world’s most capable Navy, the ability to deescalate and think reasonably through challenges is crucial to the overall success of the fleet. When analyzing the Melian Dialogue, there are several important lessons to learn about utilizing benevolence in the face of a clearly weaker opponent.
According to Thucydides, the Melian Dialogue occurred in 416 BC and involved the empire of Athens and the supposedly neutral island of Melos. For several years, tensions between the Athenians and the Spartans had continued to develop and smaller city-states were caught in the midst. This is exactly what happened to the city of Melos. (1)
When confronted with the difficult decision of whether or not to surrender to Athens, the Melians put forward their leading representatives to argue for their freedom. Leaders from Melos tried to reason that “a pleas for justice and fairness should do some good for a man who has fallen into danger.” (2) This was clearly an example of how the Melians felt that because they were neutral, they shouldn’t be punished considering they had no intentions to help either side. They continued by asking “Won’t this turn the people who are now neutral into your enemies?” (2) Their support was that “Once they’ve seen this, they will expect you to attack them eventually also.” (2) This is an important point, because the Melians were not the only neutral city-state at the time and they argued that Athens would only alienate the others through their actions.
The Melians definitely presented strong arguments, but alas they were not enough to sway the Athenians set on conquering Melos. After the civil debate, one Athenian leader even remarked “You have staked everything on your trust in hope… and you will be ruined in everything.” (2)
There are several important lessons that can be related to our military today. For example, the Athenians were too strong to be defeated by Melos and therefore felt they did not have to compromise or listen to the Melian leaders asking for mercy. This had important implications later on, however, as city-states who were neutral became wary of Athens.
Today, the US is involved in several conflicts in the Middle East. Terrorist groups like ISIS have continued to grow in influence in this region of the world, and their main recruiting tactic is attacking and demonizing the West. (3) For example, ISIS leaders garnered the attention of every major country when they started beheading Western journalists, showing that they were not afraid of the strength of America or anyone else. (3) They also take special care to show the innocent lives that are lost in the crossfire, further advocating to the youth who are still searching for belonging that the United States is the obvious enemy.
As Navy and Marine Corps officers involved in global conflicts, it will be our duty not to be like the ruthless Athenian invaders. Rather, we need to be the guiding hand amidst chaos that minimizes the loss of innocent lives and improves relations so that we do not feed the stereotype of war mongers and breed dissent against Western culture in future generations.
Word Count: 550
Sources:
- https://www.nku.edu/~weirk/ir/melian.html
- The Melian Dialogue, Adapted from Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War
- https://www.businessinsider.com/isis-is-revolutionizing-international-terrorism-2015-5
The West in the Pre-Modern World 
I liked the main point of not being ruthless invaders like the Athenians. Even though we are the most dominant fighting force in the world, we need to control ourselves. Killing innocent civilians is the easiest way to make enemies. I think it would have been better if you went into further detail of what would help us as officers. You state the lesson learned, but you do not offer solutions to the problem. You did not have to do this, but the extra analysis would have added a lot to your paper. For example, as future leaders in the Navy or Marine Corps, we could train our units to attack with more precision and confidence so that no civilian casualties occur. We could also improve how we break down our intelligence and how we formulate our plan of attack so that civilians are not killed. Additionally, we assume that we won’t make the same mistake as the Athenians. The Athenians were angry that the Melians helped the Spartans. How would we react if a “neutral” country helped our enemies? Would we be so kind? Many people in the military may become angry and want revenge, as an officer, you must be able to calm everyone and look at the bigger picture to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Michael Shubert 217
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Roscoe, I agree that the US Navy has great lessons they can learn from the Athenians. Your connection to the Melian Dialogue provides for a strong primary source regarding how the Athenians fought. You say in lessons relating today’s military, “For example, the Athenians were too strong to be defeated by Melos and therefore felt they did not have to compromise or listen to the Melian leaders asking for mercy.” However, you do not expand on what would be an interesting topic. What lesson does one learn from not listening to the enemy for mercy? It would be fascinating to see what examples you could use from the modern US military. I like how you tie in the examples of ISIS and how they use propaganda to appeal to the masses. As future leaders in war we must never forget to be civil. Our enemy is still human fighting for his or her beliefs.
WC:154
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I thought you did a good job of tying history to modern relevancy with our military. Your historical overview was good and it made me really sympathize for the Melians. The full text of the Melian Diagolue portrays the Melians as being perhaps a little too ambitious with trying to argue for their freedom.
It is interesting to see how problems like this occur again and again throughout history. Your blog gives strong support for why it is important for us as future naval officers to study history. We can learn from the Athenians mistakes. The Athenians used their power for imperialism, something that the United States has sometimes been accused of by our adversaries. It will be important for us as officers to keep in mind the reputation that we are trying to hold as a country. Like you mentioned, the Melians unfortunately got caught in the big conflict between Sparta and Athens. If a conflict were to break out between the U.S. and another power such as China, it will be important for our nation to keep its morals and leave other countries out of it the best we can. You brought the essay around at the end and wrapped it up well.
Word Count: 205
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I thought that this was a very interesting and holistic view of how history can help militaries, in general, perform and make better decisions. I think that your inclusion of the Melian situation created a very interesting parallel perhaps between our ambition as a nation and their. Through that parallel, you assessed its importance and relevance to our history. I think that is a very effective way to think about how history should shape our decisions. The parallel with the Athenian was also interesting and I think once again that we and they have many things in common. We should be aware of those parallels but most importantly we should be aware of what happens to Athens in the end. If we are to tread in their footsteps we should make sure we avoid the mistakes that they do. to add more I think that you could have a more comprehensive of how we use history to make every day and big picture strategy. Basically answering the question “how would we use history to make better decisions. I think that I was great.
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