Thucydides: The Melian Dialogue

THE MELIAN DIALOGUE , A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EXCERPTS

The dialogue starts with the prevalent lifestyle of the era , when men where acquiring empires , subjugating , annexing , a stage set in the setting or milieu of war . The issue of having allies has continued to repeat itself throughout history of mankind , here in the text the Athenians had allies in their project of annexation and subjugation

The first point that raises our political thought is that of diplomacy it depicts diplomacy as a weapon used even during that era , by sending the ambassadors

to the people of Melian shows an element of modernity , modernity ' not in full but at least a respect for human dignity to some extent

The next stage is that ,which depicts the extent of representative ness in Melian ,the Athenian ambassadors met with just few leading citizens Woodruff 1993 :102-103 ,this exemplifies a deficit in representation , the common people are left out , just like in our present day , even the advanced democratic countries when it comes to issues of defence live their citizens out , the same applies here , like the United States invasion of Iraq , the expenses ,losses are mostly borne by the common people and not the decision makers

The art of diplomacy is further employed here , through negotiations between the Melian Council and The Athenians , dialogue a reverse plan to war is crucial , if entertained and fruitful yields emanate from the dialogue (Ibid

The partition of the globe to two spheres in International politics , the periphery and core , can be seen here , it stems from a section been weak and the other strong as the Melians were weak , at the mercy of the Athenians , this is evidenced by the utterance , we see you have come to be the judge of this proceedings (Ibid , p103

Justice is clearly seen as influenced by teleological means , what the strong part considers to be in its favour is justice , this has been the case in global politics , even in cases of international law . It depicts the state of contemporary politics , where the weak gets the greatest spoils of globalization and the weak is left begging for aids , foreign direct investment , such was in Athenian-Melian case (Ibid ,p104

The discussion continues with a look into the aspect of the Melians co-operating for a mutual gain , rather than fighting , obedience here is better than war , which shows the weakness of one part , servitude solves the equation .The centrality of the discuss here is the thirst for power and dominance , no wonder Kissinger depicts power as the ultimate aphrodisiac . Hatred by the servant however increases the build on power of the ruler

The subject of safety comes to fore here , the Melians were urged to surrender and get security from the Athenians , neutrality is raised as another option by the Melians , which the Athenians refused , in International politics also , neutrality is cornered by diverse sanctions and punishment , like the Cuban case . Cooperation is therefore a necessary evil , crucial for the weaker...