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Yes, but when the leader is a politician, he has skin in a different game: getting re-elected. It doesn’t stop them from going to war, but it makes it less lik
by SllX 6y ago
Yes, but when the leader is a politician, he has skin in a different game: getting re-elected.
It doesn’t stop them from going to war, but it makes it less likely.
- clairity 6y agothat's a different game from putting your life at risk.
- SllX 6y agoI agree. It is however a strong motivation that has an effect on the choices of the civilian leadership of the military.
- ygjb 6y agoThat is straight up at odds with American (or Canadian, or for the most part, UK) history. In the United States Trump is the first "war-time" president to blow re-election during an active war, and his term was punctuated by attempts at troop draw down, coupled with inflammatory rhetoric towards Iran when he was low in polls. Engaging in something that can be spun as a just war is a viable re-election tactic.
- scarmig 6y agoI'm not sure I'd count Trump as a wartime President, though perhaps that's a result of appallingly low standards for what counts as peace.
- ygjb 6y agoYeah, it's sketchy, which is why I put it in quotes. The reason he is not really a war-time president is the only war he is even close to actually starting is a civil war :P
- hobby-coder-guy 6y agoWhat active war? Covid? How could you possibly use that as evidence.
- SllX 6y agoThe important part here is that they are forced to actually take the steps of justifying the war to the public and consulting the legislature. If you have the public’s support for the war, then a war isn’t going to hurt your election chances.