Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a reference in his charged World Economic Forum speech in Davos, Switzerland, that was not lost on Michael Carter.<\/p>\n
The Brock University Professor of Classics and Archaeology immediately clocked the nod to ancient historian Thucydides\u2019 work \u2014 and its relevancy to today.<\/p>\n
Thucydides wrote an account of the Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta \u2014 the two hegemons, or leading powers, of the ancient Greek world \u2014 from 431 to 404 BCE. There was a strong contrast between the two cities, with Athens viewed as open, tolerant, wealthy and democratic, and Sparta considered closed and intolerant.<\/p>\n
The Melian Dialogue passage, referenced by Carney, addresses the theme that \u201cmight makes right.\u201d Or, as Thucydides writes: \u201cRight, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter says the passage refers to the events of 416 BCE, when the Athenians brought their full military might against Melos \u2014 a small, defenseless but independent island in the Aegean Sea \u2014\u00a0demanding its surrender and absorption into the Athenian Empire. Athenians wanted control of Melos, a strategically important location in the war with Sparta, though Melos remained independent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Melians refused, the Athenians said they would attack and destroy them,\u201d Carter says.<\/p>\n
Thucydides presents the discussions between Athenian and Melian leaders as a closed-door dialogue, more akin to a dramatic play than usual international relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the Melian arguments are based on justice, morality, hope and a sense of right and wrong, whereas Athenian responses essentially point out how they think the world really works: big fish eat little fish, and that\u2019s just the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the debate, the Melians resisted and were defeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Athenians killed every single man on the island, enslaved all the women and children, and sent Athenian settlers to occupy it,\u201d Carter says.<\/p>\n
This section of Thucydides\u2019 work is commonly quoted, he says, as it can be interpreted as offering insight into human or state relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThucydides \u2014 often thought to be the father of political realism \u2014 describes a \u2018realist position,\u2019 which posits that states act not out of a sense of justice or morality, but out of self-interest,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
However, Carter stresses that many citations of Thucydides\u2019 work often incorrectly position the historian as a proponent \u2014 rather than a critic \u2014 of the idea that the strong can do what they want and the weak have no choice but to acquiesce.<\/p>\n
The parallels to today\u2019s global conversations are apparent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hard not to think of smaller countries and territories, like Ukraine or Greenland or Taiwan, caught up in the ambitions of the great powers, the hegemons of today,\u201d\u00a0he says. \u201cThe place of justice and morality \u2014 a sense of what is right and wrong \u2014 are too often abandoned in these discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Melian passage is significant, he says, as it reveals \u201chow low Athens had sunk\u201d and highlights the hubris of an imperialist foreign policy devoid of empathy. Thucydides is not supporting or encouraging the realist views of Athens. He saw them as evidence for the moral decline of the great city.<\/p>\n
“They had abandoned all the values \u2014\u00a0justice, morality, a sense of right and wrong, even hope \u2014\u00a0that once made Athens worth celebrating. It is the tragedy of Athens,\u201d Carter says. \u201cThat\u2019s why it was so heartening to hear the Prime Minister speak of the need for ‘values-based realism,’ in place of the old ‘might is right’ aphorism.”<\/p>\n
He says it is also important to note that the episode at Melos began the actual destruction of Athens. The Athenians launched an attack against Sicily and were ultimately defeated very shortly after Melos\u2019 capture.<\/p>\n
\u201cAthens eventually lost the war, but in the process, they lost so much more: their democracy and, along with it, anything just and fair that they once stood for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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