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In those times, the ability to project power (in a modern military sense) was virtually non-existent. Aircraft hadn't been invented yet. Naval transport was s
by ethbro 7y ago
In those times, the ability to project power (in a modern military sense) was virtually non-existent.
Aircraft hadn't been invented yet.
Naval transport was subject to the vagaries of the wind and slow.
Land transport was a matter of multi-year campaigns, supplied at great cost.
So effectively, most conflicts were the business of the belligerent and defender, and no one else.
In that world, absent coordinated international response, it's unsurprising military might took on a much more existential value!
- marcusverus 7y ago"In those times, the ability to project power (in a modern military sense) was virtually non-existent." This isn't really true. The contemporary Carthaginian and Roman empires spanned hundreds of miles of Mediterranean coastline.
- notfromhere 7y agoRome stretched from Scotland to Iraq and ruled the entire Mediterranean. So power projection still existed
- ethbro 7y agoThe Carthaginian Empire expanded over ~400 years, and never penetrated far from coasts (per design, but also illustrating the limitations of transportation at that time). The Roman Republic / Empire expanded over ~600 years. We may have different definitions of "power projection." Mine does not include "we'll eventually be there, after everyone who is alive today has lived a full life and died of natural causes."
- marcusverus 7y agoYou are confusing projecting power over a sphere of influence with expanding the sphere of influence within which one can project power. These empires ruled over vast areas of land by threat of force. That is projection of power. The fact that they later projected power over a larger area has no bearing on this.
- ethbro 7y agoYou're missing my point. How much would the Japanese have cared about what Rome thought? Vs now.
- nicwolff 7y agoUh, international coordination was definitely a thing! There was a whole Delian League formed specifically to coordinate the city-states' response to the Persian invasion – Sparta's exit from the League precipitated the war with Athens.
- ethbro 7y agoSyria to Tunisia is ~2,300 km. For reference, that's about the same distance from NY, NY to Houston, TX. And that's the long axis of the Mediterranean Sea. IMHO, that's very different than how we talk about international cooperation (and specifically: intervention) in modern times.
- rumanator 7y ago> For reference, that's about the same distance from NY, NY to Houston, TX. That's roughly the distance between Paris and Moscow, crossing through Belgium, Germany and Poland.