Military Hegemony: The Search for Security Through Conquest

by John C. Wright

The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on the orders of President Vladimir Putin in February 2022 shocked the Western world with its suddenness and brutality. Western countries, especially commercial partners with Russia like Germany, could not fathom why Russian forces would lurch across a neighbor's borders, seeking land and control.

Sadly, much of the reason this action went misunderstood is because of the now decades-old difficulty Western countries have facing post-Cold War geopolitical conquest, the seizure of a neighbor's belongings, especially land, is a foreign policy decision that has not gone out of style. In fact, conquest is becoming a more likely policy choice, especially for US rivals, as the world continues towards what looks like a more multipolar geopolitical framework. Whether or not one agrees with the degree of this multipolarity, one thing is conquest remains a reality all modern nation-states must face.

Military Hegemony analyzes why nations decide to embark on campaigns to steal each other's territory. It discusses things we take for granted--why the land we all live on is so important for life, why all nation-states need armies, why large swathes of contiguous territory are critical to security--and combines these analyses with classical and proven understandings of military strategy and political philosophy.

601 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2024

Reviews

[Matthew Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic perspective on historical conquests for state security. Excellent chapter on Napoleon, America, and a very thought provoking conclusion on what is likely to happen next and where we can expect the next military engagements. I hope the author is wrong!