Peace with his enemy Kim Jong-un on the one hand, conflict with his European allies on the other: what sense can one make of President Trump? The ancients would have understood him all too well.
The 5th c bc Greek historian Thucydides, seeing how anarchic city-state rivalry made any state liable to be attacked by any other, argued that it was fear that drove relationships. As a result, states were constantly on military alert and ready, too, to take instant aggressive action if necessary. They also feared a reputation for weakness, which simply invited attack. (‘All men,’ said the Greek statesman Demosthenes, ‘should be dealt with according to the power at their disposal.’)
This succinctly explains the Kim Jong-un-Trump standoff. Only fear could have driven Kim’s nuclear programme, while his displays of aggression were an attempt to show he could not be cowed.
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