What would Byzantium do?

If the west really wants to fix Afghanistan, it should learn from an ancient, brutal empire

by Edward Luttwak / January 27, 2010 / Leave a comment

Published in February 2010 issue of Prospect Magazine

The Byzantine art of war and diplomacy would prove useful in today’s Afghanistan

Even by the shortest reckoning, the Byzantine empire survived for eight centuries (from the fourth to the twelfth)—longer than any other in history. Although the Byzantines were supremely tenacious in combat, their strategy—invented in response to the unprecedented threat of Attila’s Huns in the 5th century—relied on diplomacy, evolving into a body of rules and techniques that is still relevant today.

Unlike the Romans, the Byzantines wrote official guidebooks on statecraft, foreign relations and espionage: writings I find especially fascinating, as I once helped compose the main field manual of the US army. These ancient techniques centred on a single, paradoxical principle: do everything possible to raise, equip and train the best possible army and navy; then do everything possible to use them as little as possible.

With Afghanistan, the west faces a simple strategic calculus: too costly to stay in, too risky to leave. A Byzantine response would be, first to withdraw the west’s scarce, expensive troops, and arm local proxies instead. This was the standard remedy for turbulent, worthless lands where no taxes could be collected, but which were to be denied to enemies: an improvement over the Romans’ fondness for battles of attrition and annihilation.

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Comments

R Bielby
January 28, 2010 at 13:53
Didn't the US already try this tactic a few decades ago in Afghanistan? Arming the 'local proxies' to deny their then enemies (the Soviets)? And aren't those local proxies now the same people they're fighting now?
Reply
E.Muscat
January 28, 2010 at 17:35
I used to listen to your advice on italian TV when you were a guest and I always admired your astuteness.I agree totally with your reasoning and add that the byzantines had greek fire which was the equivalent of the atom bomb:the west should not be afraid to use it in a sensible way.There is also the food weapon since most of the food is grown in fertile non-oil western countries which can be also used in a selective way on hostile countries with exploding populations.People may think these are callous ways of controlling other people but we live in exceptional times and need to protect our children's future.
Reply
Paul Doolan
January 31, 2010 at 20:48
History is full of lessons for policy makers today. The only problem is that we titally lack any mechanism by which we can differentiate between the right lessons and the wrong lessons.I assume the Byzantines must have been pleased to see their rivals, the Seljuk Turks, being defeated by a minor tribe. In hindsight it was the minor tribe, known as the Ottomans, who turned out to be the real problem.
Reply
Patricia Hoad
February 5, 2010 at 02:51
Mr. Luttwak, I like your work; but:I realise that we old people have outlived our usefulness. Can't you send us out, though, with an arm round the shoulder instead of a kick in the butt?Pat Hoad
Reply
DGJ
February 8, 2010 at 04:31
Good advice Ronald Reagan applied it in El Salvador and won. Our leaders won't listen to it until we pull the rug out from under their imperialist delusions. The Byzantines didn't become Byzantine until they found themselves too weak to counter Islamic foes.
Reply
Alton
February 21, 2010 at 16:43
Impressive. Wonderfully thought and written.
Reply

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Edward Luttwak's The Middle of Nowhere: Why the West Should Get Out of the Middle East (Atlantic) is forthcoming