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Machiavelli and Modern Civil Society
The main theory behind The Prince is a dramatic departure from previously held beliefs concerning morality in politics. Before Machiavelli, princes and heads of state were expected to act out of...
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Strategic Lessons From Hannibal’s War
With the world melting down and the Bard semester heating up, I’ve fallen behind in my grand strategy posts; apologies to all and I hope to catch up with a post next week (during Bard’s spring break)...
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Stratblog: The Virtues of Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli is one of those rare writers so well known that his name has become an adjective; ‘Machiavellian’ means crafty and ruthless. And over the centuries, Machiavelli’s most famous book,...
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Mattingly’s Masterpiece
When I told my Uncle that I was reading Garrett Mattingly’s The Armada, he said, “Do you know what the biggest mistake of the Spanish Armada was? They left port!” He meant it as a joke, but the...
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Rapporteur’s Report: The Armada
The initial discussion of The Armada focuses on Garrett Mattingly’s language and style, and how it differs greatly from the other historical accounts assigned to the class. Professor Mead remarks that...
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Clause Wits
To many, Carl von Clausewitz is known as the Prussian military theorist who, in his seminal work On War, declares the (in)famous words: “War is a mere continuation of policy by other means.” Lacking...
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Stratblog: Elizabeth, The Armada and the Strategy of Yin
I had to fly over to London last week for a meeting and to see some old friends; I lucked into one of those rare spring days when the English weather was perfect. The sky was blue, the sun was warm,...
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Rapporteur’s Report: On War
Class began with a hypothetical question: What should England do right now about the situation in Libya? What is the reason for London’s interference in the crisis, and what does it mean in terms of...
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When Isms go to War
Those following the Stratblog posts know that we’ve been looking at sixteenth century grand strategy for a few weeks this spring. Garrett Mattingly’s The Armada and Machiavelli’s The Prince both...
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Clausewitz: Master of War
I’m busy reading final papers for the grand strategy seminar at Bard this spring, and the students are finishing up their exams and thinking about summer. It’s already time to start reading and...
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