Greeknon Swot Analysis
MELOS AND INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS
Fear, honor, interest--Thucydides could scarcely have phrased it better.
The classics can help American business leaders sort out situations of power balance. In 416 BC the leadership of the Greek city-state of Melos opted to fight the mighty Athenian empire rather than accept vassal status. Athens had been at war against Sparta, to the south in the Peloponnesus, more or less continuously since 431 BC. Athens had been unable to make much headway on land against the vaunted Spartan infantry, while Sparta was no match for Athens at sea. Frustrations were mounting on both sides. A fragile peace was in place, but it was in the process of unraveling.
Athens chose this moment to target Melos. Why? Thucydides, …show more content…
An empire might, for instance, use its military power to acquire strategically placed territories. "By conquering you," proclaimed the Athenian ambassadors, "we shall increase not only the size but the security of our empire." For Athens there were obvious geostrategic advantages to wresting Melos from its inhabitants. The island was ideally positioned off the southeast coast of the Peloponnesus. Operating from bases on the island, the formidable Athenian navy could conduct operations along the Spartan periphery, amplifying the already dominant seapower of …show more content…
The Melian representatives held that because their cause was just, they could trust to fortune, or to the Spartans to intervene and avert disaster. They maintained that "in war fortune sometimes makes the odds more level than could be expected from the difference of numbers of the two sides." They also pointed to the geographic proximity of Sparta and an ethnic affinity between Spartans and Melians: "We think [the Spartans] would even endanger themselves for our sake and count the risk more worth taking than in the case of others, because we are so close to the Peloponnese that they could operate more easily," and because "we are of the same race and share the same
Fear, honor, interest--Thucydides could scarcely have phrased it better.
The classics can help American business leaders sort out situations of power balance. In 416 BC the leadership of the Greek city-state of Melos opted to fight the mighty Athenian empire rather than accept vassal status. Athens had been at war against Sparta, to the south in the Peloponnesus, more or less continuously since 431 BC. Athens had been unable to make much headway on land against the vaunted Spartan infantry, while Sparta was no match for Athens at sea. Frustrations were mounting on both sides. A fragile peace was in place, but it was in the process of unraveling.
Athens chose this moment to target Melos. Why? Thucydides, …show more content…
An empire might, for instance, use its military power to acquire strategically placed territories. "By conquering you," proclaimed the Athenian ambassadors, "we shall increase not only the size but the security of our empire." For Athens there were obvious geostrategic advantages to wresting Melos from its inhabitants. The island was ideally positioned off the southeast coast of the Peloponnesus. Operating from bases on the island, the formidable Athenian navy could conduct operations along the Spartan periphery, amplifying the already dominant seapower of …show more content…
The Melian representatives held that because their cause was just, they could trust to fortune, or to the Spartans to intervene and avert disaster. They maintained that "in war fortune sometimes makes the odds more level than could be expected from the difference of numbers of the two sides." They also pointed to the geographic proximity of Sparta and an ethnic affinity between Spartans and Melians: "We think [the Spartans] would even endanger themselves for our sake and count the risk more worth taking than in the case of others, because we are so close to the Peloponnese that they could operate more easily," and because "we are of the same race and share the same