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Lessons of history and knowledge for statecraft

6 important questions on Lessons of history and knowledge for statecraft

What was the main purpose of Thucydides writing The History of the Peloponnesian War?

to use the Peloponnesian War as an historical inquiry to discover the meaning and knowledge of human behavior to be used by policy makers. He set the foundations to the concept that history could be study to underlie patterns in general policy making

According to Grotius, what are the major lessons from the study of history?

Hugo Grotius also agreed on the importance of studying the past. His writing On the Law of War and Peace he shows how leaders, decision-makers, and people in general act in similar ways under similar circumstances

1. What did von Clausewitz warn against?

Clausewitz gave three warning to policy makers. The first warning was that the use of history as a means to explain idea, show the application of examples, support various possibilities, and present evidence, was to be cautious and required a lot of effort and sophistication. The second warning was not to use history as quick examples for policy and development of theory. Finally, he also warned not to make decisions upon the use of only one historical example; therefore, not to generalize.

1. According to DP Heatley, how should students of International Relations first begin their studies?

DP Heathley believed that students who studied International Relations should begin their studies with an exploration of the past, history. They should study how past governments dealt and managed diplomatic problems.

What are the qualities that made Bismarck a successful statesman?

One of the qualities that made Otto von Bismarck such a successful statesman was his ability and sense of proportion and perspective. This allowed Bismarck to understand how specific problems were related to larger issues. It also enabled him to appreciate the variety and limitation of choice among human actors

1. What are strate gy variants?

The strategy variants derive from the conceptual models used to understand what must be done in general to achieve the wanted objectives.The strategy variants show how there is only one theory and model for different aspects of diplomacy but there are many different strategies to implement them.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Force and statecraft | 9780195162493 | Paul Gordon Lauren, et al

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