Differences And Similarities Between Melians And Athenians

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“War does not determine who is right - only who is left” - Bertrand Russell. A statement far too true with its application to many wars throughout history. The strong will survive and the weak will be eliminated. In the Melians dialogue, the Melians refused the Athenians as their ruler. That sparked the war between these two groups of people. On the topic of our war in Afghanistan, the war on terrorism, it all started after the historical event that happened on September 11, 2001. The terrorists waged attacks on America by hijacking four planes, with two planes succession in crashing into the twin towers. In respond, our nation decided to go to war in Afghanistan against the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. In present day, the Al-Qaeda group has long been …show more content…

Yet our presence in Afghanistan is still prominent. The similarity between these two wars now is the imposition of power. In one, the Athenians wanting to conquer the Melians and in the other, the U.S wanting to stabilize the situation in the Afghanistan by imposing a westernized governmental system. Neither opposing party share the same view with the other. As a result, the Melians went to war with the Athenians and the decentralized groups in Afghanistan rejected the view of westernized government because no group likes to be controlled by another group or no one likes to be controlled by someone else. Rejection of control by one group who doesn’t share the same view of the other group attempting control is exceedingly common. The Athenians want to impose their power by taking the Melians under their control. The Melians however, proposed to be a neutral party to the Athenians, that way the Athenians do not need to conquer them. The reason being they wished to be a standalone group without being under control by another