The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Chinese hackers attack 12 Korean academic institutions: KISA

  • 3

    Chinese hackers threaten to attack S. Korean cybersecurity watchdog

  • 5

    From period to action: different genre series set for February

  • 7

    Why Korea imports so much kimchi from China

  • 9

    Center offers free STI testing to foreign residents of Korea

  • 11

    Cargo ship carrying 22 sinks off Jeju, 14 rescued but 9 unconscious

  • 13

    ANALYSISChina's reopening to help ease inventory woes

  • 15

    Lawmaker pushes for bill requiring women to join civil defense training

  • 17

    Major Korean banks' overseas branches sanctioned by foreign authorities

  • 19

    Yoon calls for adjusting regulatory, labor systems to global standards

  • 2

    Koreans stunned by spike in heating costs

  • 4

    Heavy snow hits Seoul, surrounding areas

  • 6

    Campaign launched to respect multicultural families, foreign nationals

  • 8

    Cold wave warnings issued across Korea; Seoul witnesses coldest day

  • 10

    Netmarble debuts virtual girl group MAVE:

  • 12

    Korea's move to cut subsidies on imported EVs faces backlash

  • 14

    Homeless women struggle to find place to spend night

  • 16

    More than dozen chaebol scions indicted on alleged drug use

  • 18

    Seoul subway, bus fares to rise by 300 or 400 won

  • 20

    Samsung chief gives gifts to new moms, employees from multicultural families

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Fri, January 27, 2023 | 07:51
Times Forum
Great powers, endless wars
Posted : 2019-05-19 17:23
Updated : 2019-05-19 17:23
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link

By Gwynne Dyer

"Great nations do not fight endless wars," said Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech last February. But he was wrong. That's exactly what they do. Great powers fight more wars than anybody else, even if, like the United States today, they have no hostile neighbors.

The original observations were made half a century ago by Quincy Wright, an American political scientist at the University of Chicago. During the entire history of "modern" Europe from 1480 to 1940, he calculated, there have been about 2,600 important battles.

France, a leading military power for the whole period and the greatest power for most of it, participated in 47 percent of those battles ― more than a thousand major battles. Russia, Britain and Germany (in the form of Prussia), which were all great European powers by 1700, each fought in between 22 and 25 percent of them. And then the rate of participation falls off very steeply.

Spain was a great military power until the mid-1700s, but then dropped out of contention and can offer only a 12 percent attendance record for battles over the whole four-and-a-half centuries. The Netherlands and Sweden, which were great military powers only for brief periods, were present at only 8 and 4 percent of Europe's battles, respectively. Indeed, Sweden has not used its army in war for 190 years now.

By any other yardstick ― the amount of time a given European country has spent at war, the number of wars it has taken part in, the proportion of its population that has been killed in wars ― the result is the same.

There is a steep and consistent gradient of suffering, in which the most powerful nations fight most often and lose most heavily in lives and wealth. How can this be? Why doesn't great power deter other countries from fighting you?

Well, it actually does, to some extent. However, great power also enables the country possessing it to acquire "interests" everywhere, and tempts it to use its military power to protect or advance those interests. Only great powers fight "wars of choice."

North Vietnam did not choose to fight the United States. Neither did Cuba, or Grenada, or Libya, or Panama, or Serbia, or Iraq. Nor, for that matter, did Canada (then British North America) in 1812, or Mexico in 1846, or Spain in 1898. Those were all "wars of choice" for the United States, but not for the other side.

This is not to say that they were all wars of aggression. The first Gulf War was not, for example, nor was the Kosovo War. But they were all wars that the United States could have chosen not to fight without suffering grave harm to its own legitimate interests. It chose to fight them, often for relatively minor stakes, because it could.

The great-power mania infects everybody. Trump, despite his well-founded conviction that America should bring its troops home from the Middle East, has now vetoed a bipartisan Congressional resolution that tried to force an end to American participation in the war in Yemen.

Never mind the lies that are told about the Houthi rebels who control most of Yemen being simply pawns of Iran, and about Iran being the reason the Middle East is so "unstable."

Why would Trump, like several generations of American "statesmen" before him, fall for the bizarre notion that deciding who rules in Lebanon, Egypt or Yemen is a "vital national interest" of the United States?

The webs of spurious logic that support such nonsense are familiar. "Oil is our vital national interest, so Saudi Arabia is our indispensable ally." Why? Wouldn't Arabia want to sell its oil to the U.S. under any imaginable regime? And hasn't fracking made the U.S. virtually self-sufficient in oil anyway?

"Since Saudi Arabia is our ally, we must support its war in Yemen, and support it against Iran too." Why? You managed to be closely allied with both Israel and Saudi Arabia back in the days when the Saudis still saw Israel as a mortal enemy. You don't have to back either of them in everything they do.

"Our credibility is at stake." This is the last-resort falsehood that can justify almost any otherwise indefensible military commitment. Don't let them see you back down, no matter how stupid your position is. They won't respect you if you bail out.

Or as Trump put it when he was still just a candidate for the Republican nomination: "Our military dominance must be unquestioned, and I mean unquestioned, by anybody and everybody." Power purely for the sake of power. Any country that remains a great power for long enough eventually becomes insane.


Gwynne Dyer (gwynne763121476@aol.com) has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years. He is the author of "Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work)."



 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1Koreans stunned by spike in heating costsKoreans stunned by spike in heating costs
2Homeless women struggle to find place to spend night Homeless women struggle to find place to spend night
3Inflation weighs on householdsInflation weighs on households
4[INTERVIEW] Partnerships with Korean companies help Delta Air Lines' post-pandemic recovery INTERVIEWPartnerships with Korean companies help Delta Air Lines' post-pandemic recovery
5'I was a stock investment addict': psychiatrist seeks to help addicted people through his book 'I was a stock investment addict': psychiatrist seeks to help addicted people through his book
6Korea's GDP shrinks 0.4% in Q4, 1st contraction in 10 quartersKorea's GDP shrinks 0.4% in Q4, 1st contraction in 10 quarters
7Netflix series 'The Glory' draws focus to real school bullying Netflix series 'The Glory' draws focus to real school bullying
8Gov't to double subsidies for vulnerable households as energy bills soar Gov't to double subsidies for vulnerable households as energy bills soar
9[VIDEO] Do Koreans know K-pop idols well? VIDEODo Koreans know K-pop idols well?
10S. Korea to increase joint air defense exercises following N. Korean drone incursionsS. Korea to increase joint air defense exercises following N. Korean drone incursions
Top 5 Entertainment News
1From period to action: different genre series set for FebruaryFrom period to action: different genre series set for February
2Miguel Chevalier's psychedelic digital universe takes audience participation to next level Miguel Chevalier's psychedelic digital universe takes audience participation to next level
3Shunsuke Michieda overwhelmed by Korean fans' support for his coming-of-age film Shunsuke Michieda overwhelmed by Korean fans' support for his coming-of-age film
4Yun Hyong-keun's hanji works come under spotlight in Paris for first time Yun Hyong-keun's hanji works come under spotlight in Paris for first time
5Kim Hyun-joo says humanity is at heart of action film 'Jung_E' Kim Hyun-joo says humanity is at heart of action film 'Jung_E'
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

wooribank
CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group