EXPERT ADVISORY — January 22, 2026 — R0007

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.

The Brock University Professor of Classics and Archaeology immediately clocked the nod to ancient historian Thucydides’ work — and its relevancy to today.

Thucydides wrote an account of the Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta — the two hegemons, or leading powers, of the ancient Greek world — 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. 

The Melian Dialogue passage, referenced by Carney, addresses the theme that “might makes right.” Or, as Thucydides writes: “Right, 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.” 

Carter says the passage refers to the events of 416 BCE, when the Athenians brought their full military might against Melos — a small, defenseless but independent island in the Aegean Sea — demanding 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.

“If the Melians refused, the Athenians said they would attack and destroy them,” Carter says.

Thucydides presents the discussions between Athenian and Melian leaders as a closed-door dialogue, more akin to a dramatic play than usual international relations. 

“All 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’s just the way it is.” 

At the end of the debate, the Melians resisted and were defeated. 

“The Athenians killed every single man on the island, enslaved all the women and children, and sent Athenian settlers to occupy it,” Carter says. 

This section of Thucydides’ work is commonly quoted, he says, as it can be interpreted as offering insight into human or state relations. 

“Thucydides — often thought to be the father of political realism — describes a ‘realist position,’ which posits that states act not out of a sense of justice or morality, but out of self-interest,” he says. 

However, Carter stresses that many citations of Thucydides’ work often incorrectly position the historian as a proponent — rather than a critic — of the idea that the strong can do what they want and the weak have no choice but to acquiesce. 

The parallels to today’s global conversations are apparent.  

“It 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,” he says. “The place of justice and morality — a sense of what is right and wrong — are too often abandoned in these discussions.”

The Melian passage is significant, he says, as it reveals “how low Athens had sunk” 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.

“They had abandoned all the values — justice, morality, a sense of right and wrong, even hope — that once made Athens worth celebrating. It is the tragedy of Athens,” Carter says. “That’s 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.”  

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’ capture.  

“Athens 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.”

Michael Carter, Brock University Professor of Classics and Archaeology, is available for media interviews on this topic.

For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

*Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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