Victor Davis Hanson | The Western Way of War 

If you want to understand the present learn the past from Victor Davis Hanson.

My favorite classicist today. God bless him and all the works of his hands!!

VDH's ability to analyze, assess then coalesce concepts and data are nothing short of remarkable; and the best evidence of his genius is our ability, if we listen and think carefully, to grasp his thoughts. He doesn't just speak to the intelligentsia, he speaks effectively to the common man - the 'Hoi Polloi' as he describes it. Such a rare thing today.

Love listening to this amazing man and the way he weaves seamlessly from antiquity to the present day . What a treat !!!

Always enjoy listening to VDH and his speeches.

the western way of war introduced the soldier versus the warrior. you hint at it but it made a huge difference

Best part: “Military thought and practice remains immune through the ages because it’s entirely a human phenomenon, and the human mind, despite suggestions that we’re changing or evolving at a rapid rate, has not changed. Human nature’s constant. Therefore war itself has laws that are immutable and can be studied across time and space.” This could be read on papyrus as a lost script in Alexandria, attributed to some bygone philosopher, or any other historical figure, and should be remembered as such, for how pertinent an assessment this conclusion will remain for another thousand years.

It would be nice to know what year this was but a gem of a lecture. (Edit) it has been brought to my attention that it is from 2007. Thanks everyone.

Dr VDH is an american treasure. 😎

Brilliant 👍 you weave it well 👊

Now that's a gem!

Wow!!! Just wow. When you get statements after statements that change or rather explain things in your mind.

Outstanding. Whether it’s the quality & uniqueness of his thinking, his flawless, efficient and unhesitating presentation or his focus and objectivity, Doctor Hanson has delivered his best work yet IMHO. Dr Hanson’s opening argument was that the West’s success was not just due to its technological superiority, which in turn was due to its kernel system of relative freedom, but also its success was due to its value-based core of unwavering high moral that made it a better war machine. In support of his argument, I think of the Roundheads as having the same esprit de corps which made it one the few western armies to remain undefeated. In conclusion Dr Hanson arrays the weakness of the west to conquest by divisive tactics and the strategy of “strength into weakness”. The West has 2 outstanding weaknesses, Israel and the EU. Iran is testing Israeli support and Putin is testing EU support. Didn’t Xi Jinping say during the Trump administration that he would unleash the whirlwind?

Well educated and smart!

I definitely believe that VDH is the greatest living military historian and classicist, I don't think there's anyone who understands and explains the development of the Western world better than he does. My only complaint on this lecture is the incessantly coughing audience, is there a campfire in there or something? Control yourselves please.

Wow very insightful

Read his book " The Western Way of War". I read it when it came out, in 1994 I believe, and it is a great read.

This is super old, but still relevant

I love learning from one better read than myself add a great practical intelligents and you have this wonderful man. A true American patriot and national treasure.

He makes me think about things differently.

I always thought Jared Diamonds Guns Germs and Steel was a little hard to take seriously. He mentions that Papua New Guinea would have invented aviation if they had the same “Guns Germs and Steel” as Europe.

great lecture!

Whoa. I said things like that, years ago and, I've never met Victor. Have a think.

This is being told how great we are when in fact we have been a war plague on the planet for most of the time.

Me at the bar after 3 beers

Take the value of this man's words that he uses in his speech and how they work like a good novel that you can read such as Huckleberry Finn or another great novel back in the Roman days even even Hitler's day

This was more or less a summary of VDH's book "Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power".

I would like to see VDH compare what he stated in this lecture to what has occurred in the last 3 to 4 years.

When was this lecture given?

When was the film date?

One of the scariest lines I ever heard in a movie was "I've got time. I've got money. Let's go make some trouble." That was the female in Charlie Wilson's War. She had the open life, the finances of Rothchild and she was against the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. It immediately frightened me, that reminder that there are more clerics, jihadists, communist and other that just want the sensation of killing. Why does mankind want to return to "eat or be eaten"? Why do they think they are better off in conflict than in agreement?

Being 60 years old, I'm probably too old to fight, unless I guess things get really desperate. Being something of an educated person anyway, I guess, even if I was younger, I would be deemed more useful, more efficiently and effectively disposed into some kind of desk job. For both these reasons then, it is somewhat difficult to construct a judgment with reasons here. That is an ambiguous statement of course: It is difficult to construct a reason in terms of facts because, at this point in time at least, it is probably still a very unlikely requirement for many people who would not normally want to enlist in the military anyway. For most people it is probably not even considered as possible career. For most people war is something to watch in a movie or in some horror on the news. In that sense war recollections for my generation and the previous one is an exchange of war movies or events in the News. You have to go back two generations before conscription is a thing a necessity not a possibility, and I imagine there are not many left now with a memory of War on the the kind of scale from World War 2. I have talked at length to soldiers from World War Two particularly an officer on the Dunkerque beach evacuation, and an artillery soldier at Monte Cassio. There is another person with a much more extreme experience even than those but they never talked about it. War experience for the following generation though is not unknown. From the 1950's though to the 1980's I've talked to some of them at great length socially and worked with them on buildign sites and factories. More recently I have spoken but do not know some soldiers from recent wars from the 1990's to now. They had very different recollections and attitudes towards it than the others. It maybe because more recent generations are not so taciturn about there memories or maybe its that they were worse or closer in age top me. One I met walking home and we began talking about the army and he ended up telling me all about Wittgenstein and the Bruschelov Offensive of the Eastern Front of World War One. It was the first lesson when he went to military collage in Germany. He was very bitter about the whole thing, as was a very disturbed man I met in a pub. They had returned to country that didn’t seem to hold much value and respect for their bravery. That it was all about the “Tony Blare Illegal War” discourse. They were unemployed and one was definitely psychologically unemployable. I did meet one though who was well disposed to depart back into battle. So to get back to the question of judgement and reasons: firstly we are dependent on trusting higher authorities for “objective reasons” not just in terms of facts and intelligence, but in terms of present and past honesty in there stations and roles, disposing of their public duty properly and sincerely. You know what if it’s a rich man trick: the rich make money create massive inequality cause chaos around the world after the 1990’s and expect to get the poor in this country to fight the wars of consequence, where they are off to an island somewhere. It could be dismissed as a lefty and conspiracy world view I guess. In this kind of propagandising, all the heroic stories from past generations will be amassed as so much friendly fire to entice people to be Heroes (Hero come from Greek or medieval root as does Heroin listen to the Velvet Underground Song or David Bowie) One discourse predictably doing the rounds on GM News is the question of “Will the Snowflake Generation be upto fighting the Russian Army?”. This was dealt with very effectively on GB News, by a guy from the “other” You Tube channel “Podcast of the Lotus Eaters, a couple of nights ago. I can’t add anything more to what he said in his exchange. They have probably posted it by now. It made me proud to watch him take his opposing “man siren” out. I had indeed began to think that the Woke thing was a middle class trigger for poor working class white men: you know “If you are unsure if you are a man or a women or a trans or a mangina, then prove it by going to fight a war in that traditional patriarchal role. You are either for the trans men or a soldier. Look non white men are fighting are you like them or a middleclass Culture studies snowflake? Get off of your computer war games and be real “The ladies are going to love it” (That’s a line from “The Mummy” remake, of a remake, of a remake, back to the Pelopenetian wars and beyond) Secondly the judgment and reason for me is a bit of a Kantian Categorical Violation by contingency of non universality, I will probably never have to conform to my maxim of “yes everybody must be ready to fight”. Indeed the middleclass generally do not, and if they do are officers because of special rarer skills and education, those “above” them just leave the country, they were only here for the money anyway it contingent and defeasible, as a middleclass educated person might say. There’s so0emthign deeply disingenuous about the rich and middle class doing what Owen James called “Cosplay Soldiering”. Any way his targets head seems to have stopped spinni9ng now and is facing the right direction quietly. That all said, and congenially in line with the far left’s hermeneutics of suspicion and counter to German Romantic Idealism of the Heroic Napoleonic enlightenment soldier, there is a realism the left seem unable to see grasp and assent judgment to: there are bad people out there, and they can be organised into a State with an modern technological military. War is real it cannot be deconstructed with collection of Post structuralist texts. Obviously written in a rush this morning so charity for spelling grammar and even errors. I thank you and look forward to your discussion

I listen to his Spotify podcast. Every. Single. Morning. First thing.

Wow! This renewed my admiration for the west. (And made me realise where the leftists utopian ideas goes wrong)

We need a date for these lectures. First VDH can guess the future as well as anyone and secondly if he were Liberal he would donate his old clothes but as a conservative he wears them.

Read the Rodgers Ranger handbook 1779

Mucho info VDH gifts to US.

He's beating around the bush that role that he speaks of is we the people of the world no prejudice no hatred love our planet. As each other

This message was delivered some years ago and is both insightful and powerful. Perhaps one deadly weakness at loose in the West, unaccounted for, at the time, by VDH is Feminism. It has thoroughly corrupted virtually all the public and private institutions of the West and made deep inroads into the military. DEI, for example, is the spawn of Feminism and designed to replace competent men with women and POC. One look at our current military brass will cause one to forego any notion of success on the battlefield. For Feminists, to conquer the American military will be, for them, their crowning achievement and for America a civilizational disaster.

That's so classic eurocentric.

The age of unconditional surrender and total war.

Professor Emeritus Hanson asserts that there were seventeen Victoria Crosses awarded for the action at Rourke's Drift. Eleven VC's were awarded for that action.

It is obvious that the West is the most socially developed part of humanity. Unfortunately, this fact was and is the basis for chauvinism. One way or another, the preaching of civilizational superiority comes down to the idea “We know what is best and have the right to teach others.” And these lessons come at a very high cost to humanity.

Western culture is the best in the world

That's one reason I always enjoyed James Burke and his Connections, it wasn't a quarter coherent mess of napkin and margin scribblings like Hansen's ramblings on here.

I took Civilizations of the West in 11th grade thinking it was about cowboys too. Well...

Interesting video. Does anyone know if there's a counter to this talk? Or a talk about the Eastern way of war?

Regarding Patreus and Congress: the general was simply laying

Ah, Ahmedinijad . . . Remember when we were worried about him? The good old days . . .

When was this recorded? Early 2000's? Actually curious just because I've never heard of this professor till just now

The Western way of war uses amazing arms and armor. Gives short-term victories in 5 to 10 years. The East: "That is cute we out trade you and out breed you." Total victory in 50 to 100 years

The western way of war was predicated on the citizen soldier, not the mass levy of unwilling combatants, and as a result, concensus qmong the polity.

Gotta love Dr. VDH!!

Used to be

William F would be proud

Astonished Hanson didn't mention The Iliad!! EVERYTHING he talks about is in there. The ESSENCE of Greek superiority is that, rather than being a giant family tribe with one war leader which will defend its son despite the son stealing another king's wife while on a diplomatic mission (!), the Greeks are united by laws and treaties to defend one king's rights, and they argue endlessly about strategy etc. in council while the Trojans--to their detriment--just do what their leader/big brother Hektor tells them to. Their somewhat-shared social structure is better at cultural defense, organization (getting 1000+ ships to Troy), listening to individual initiative (the Trojan Horse), and paying attention to communication among the ranks (cf. Oedipus' speeches Book II along with all the council meetings). Of course, this diversity and complexity is also a weakness--leading to the conflict between Akhilleus and Agamemnon. It's ALL there at the beginning. Non-literary types need to read the sources!

Notice that this channel doesn't bother tell us easily when this lecture was actually given.

Became a member of ISI back in 1993. Then "that woman", my ex put a stop to all that.

he talks about the middle class just before the crash of ‘08. I wonder what he would say of the West’s Middle Class today

"Farmer? Really? A man of your talents"

21:52 nowadays it would be called USS safe speech albeit the USS might get canceled to

👍🤔

All races all people throughout the whole world come from this planet and we'll go back to this planet there is no prejudice in the truth. It's how the we the people of the world live our lives and make this world what it is. Is a very strong word if it's is taking wa e

TINA JOHNSON LARY ANIEL

“sometimes we call it democracy……..”. Well that comment aged well…..

Funny that cortez was so great that he didn't need those thousands of tlaxcalan warrior to help him out in bringing down Aztecs. It was good that Hanson mentioned them though...oh thats right he didn't.

Interesting, I would describe the democracy of the USA, at least currently, 2024, as a oligarchy, corporate power and the wealthiest control the election process, insuring their continuing power, capitalism with not enough regulation has morphed into a artificial form of democracy.

I'm of two minds about this speaker. His argument and ideals I agree with 100%, but he makes small context errors every now and then that just annoy me. Nathan Bedford Forrest couldn't do anything to Sherman's supply lines because Sherman didn't have any. His army was living off the land with bummers/foragers seizing all necessary supplies to sustain his army during his March to the Sea. 😮‍💨

Whatyearwasthis?

Sonic the statement on the other side of the world which is my West my East now it's your West

This is a very old lecture. Still relevant, but not current.

In the current context, Ukraine is far more western than Russia.

Agent Orange?

Chindits, Gurkhas unbeatable in close in

Savaş teknolojisi.

I mean India's reference here and there is definitely wrong, but yeah we get gist.

This is old and much has happened that has saddened Dr. VDH.... And me.... Goodbye America. We surrendered to Mohammed and Karl Marx.

Is psychological haven't even seen the podcast yet or what he has to speak of what he says the word American way war. Always remember we the people of the world are always at war with mother nature in our surroundings people getting away sometimes because they cannot love one another and back and support each other that is not war that is the truth

i sure am glad america is more about power profit and war instead of freedom and liberty

275th, 14 February 2024

Womp womp It's over.

Combined arms, overwhelming force and logistics, converging columns. The American Way of Warfare. We don't do this anymore.

This is really good, although we must acknowledge that Asians are very organized, and have been for ages. But the overall argument is really good.

U WANNA MAKE A BET?🤷I GAVE HUGO CHAVEZ AN IPHONE 6

Couple of really bad takes here. 1) That the West is just an idea, and not an outward expression of DNA. 2) That capitalism, a system in use for a few hundred years, is the reason Western civilization is superior. Otherwise a decent talk.

If this homie thinks Japan shall fully accept you while being a foreigner, he's delusional. Or he just doesn't know anything about Japan.

Greeks had slaves, the Battle of Thermopylae included 900 helots. Guerrilla warfare was used by the Romans. I think you are simply focusing on hoplites and then drawing a lot of broad strokes.

Victor Davis Hanson is a lot smarter than Joe Biden and Obama combined.

He could a just said good times create soft men and hard times create hard men......bla bla whichn is universal and not unique to west

💀boomer, 💀

War is due to savageness, I.e Godlessness and selfishness

✌️✌️👍🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦➕️👍👏👏

Hanson is a chicken hawk and a cheer leader for the Iraq fiasco. What he knows about war he learned from a safe distance. If you like armchair "warfare" without consequences for those who man the armchairs, this is for you. Very comforting hot air.

This man is an armchair expert who has actually never seen the bloody truth of War. I’m saying this as a Marine vet with deployments in Africa and Afghanistan

Hanson’s theories about war have been thoroughly refuted by real historians. He peddles his ideology as history. Worthless, unless you like being lied to.

Thank you for your knowledge and video's USA 🇺🇸 USA TRUMP 2024

We keep referring to Greeks as though they really were what we were made believe they were!! Alexander the Great was not Greek !!

sorry the west way better fighting men? after ww2 usa lost the war in korea, vietnam, iraq and Afghanistan even with all the bombings.

Hanson's view of Western superiority glosses over colonialism, slavery, and economic inequalities. Critics argue it's ethnocentric, ignoring non-Western contributions and the dark sides of capitalism and democracy. His narrative, while celebrating Western values, overlooks historical injustices and the complexities of global influence.

Sherman was a Butcher, do not be an apologize for him