While weapons and man may change, the conflicts remain the same: two sides fighting over land, power, religion, or conflicting ideals. Blood is always shed, and rarely is either side happy with their lot in the aftermath. Such is the proud nature of man. Even today, parallels exist between ours and the ancient worlds. History repeats itself, and nowhere today is that more obvious than the United States and ancient Athens, two extremely powerful nations that had and have true hegemony over the civilized world of man.
Both Athens and the US boast powerful republics, with Athens standing as the first true democracy of man and the US designing a government based heavily on the Athenian ideals. These systems serve well to maintain peace among the people and aid in decision making to further the interests of the nation. Neither system is perfect, even with the 1,500 year boost that the Framers of the United States Constitution had. They have “strong tradition[s] of being a maritime power[s],” and have extreme global impact on every other society within their reach, creating conflict that is very similar for both nations.[1] The United States is the “international police power” of the western world, maintaining a constant presence on land, air, sea, and the cyber domain at all hours of the day.[2] The Athenian equivalent to this was the Delian League, their so-called alliance that they created with many other nations in the Aegean Sea. While it is true that the Athenians maintained a much more tyrannical rule of their League compared to the humanitarian and quiet presence of the American global presence, they both played the same role as the world power and they maintained conflict due to this position for many decades.
The true struggle that came from the Delian league was the Peloponnesian War, a long struggle between Athens and Sparta. “The growth if the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired” in Sparta was the catalyst for the war.[3] This can also be seen from Russia and China as a response to America’s power, with them trying to undermine and come out on top of the US. While it must be stated that, in the case of this conflict and the way in which Athens governed its territory, America and Athens are on opposite sides of this situation. America could be seen as more similar to Sparta, attempting to stop the inane rule of an all-powerful city-state that is holding the rest of the world hostage.
Athens played a very selfish role as a power, something that fits more rightly with the time. Aspects such as equality and empathy were few and far between in the past, but now are commonplace. It is blatantly apparent that Athens and America play very similar roles in the world that they are in, but the decisions that Athens made put them down a more negative and self-important path. America is a much more righteous nation, using their influence for good rather than bad. Their decisions may differ, but Athens and America had very similar encounters due to who they were and the role that they played.
Cyrus Malek-Madani
Word Count: 550
[1] “America Is Athens and That Should Scare You.” American Greatness. February 28, 2018. Accessed April 08, 2019. https://amgreatness.com/2018/02/28/america-athens-scare/.
[2] Roosevelt Corollary.
[3] History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I, 1.23
The West in the Pre-Modern World 
I agree with the main point of this blog; however, I would like to make an addition.
America is often cited as being highly derivative of Athenian culture and government ideals. However, this is not true unless referring to the coincidental aspects of our culture that align. The founders themselves abhorred Athenian-style democracy. Thomas Jefferson himself stated that “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 percent of the people may take away the rights of the other 49.” The idea of implementing pure democracy was looked down upon greatly, with, as you mention, over 1500 years of wisdom gained. The pure democratic system implemented in Athens was not able to provide cohesion that would endure war and emergency situations. Many times, Athens would revert back to tyranny in an attempt to solve problems requiring immediate attention and aid.
Athens’ democracy, though it was revolutionary and impacted future civilizations, including ours, to a high extent, simply was not a viable form of governance that could lead to stability in any circumstance. Athens should not be given the credit it often receives for impacting our current representative form of democracy, which bears more semblance to the Roman Republic than any other ancient civilization’s mode of governance.
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I agree that America and Ancient Athens share many similarities. Athens had, without a doubt, the strongest Navy in the Mediterranean during its time period. Similarly today, the U.S. boasts one of the strongest Navy’s around the globe. I find the comparison of Athens’ war with the Peloponnesian League to America’s conflict with China and Russia especially interesting. It’s a unique point of view that I had not thought about before. America does have a lot of connections with other countries around the world, but I don’t think other countries are as dependent on us as the Delian League was on Athens. The U.S. does not force its allies to pay tribute to it for protection, nor do we invade, rape, and pillage their countries. Instead the U.S. trades with other countries. America is like Sparta in that they were trying to free the city-states from the Delian League, but Sparta also had uprisings from their own city-states that they had to put up with. America is truly a combination of Athens and Sparta, we take the good qualities from both, but also possess a combination of the bad.
-Moira Camacho
Word Count: 189
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This article was really well written! The comparison between the United States and Ancient Athens is well supported and specific! The form of government of the two nations is an obvious, nominal similarity; however, the article increased its depth in citing the similarities in which both nations were maritime super powers and how this impacted each nations respective roles on the international stage. The use of the Roosevelt Corollary as a primary source was exceptionally strong. It is also an interesting parallel, which the article draws, between the Peloponnesian War and the Cold War; each as a conflict between rivals powers threatened by its enemy’s strength.
The only portion of the article which is not well supported is the argument asserted in the conclusion of the alleged righteousness of ‘America’. This is very much an opinion of a specific perception, and open to criticism by many, both of American citizenship and those outside the borders of the United States.
Meagan Stevenson
Word Count: 159
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