The first article in this section of Betts book was Machiavelli’s Money is Not the Sinews of War, Although it is Generally so Considered. In this article I felt that Machiavelli’s primary argument was that, “the sinews of war are not gold, but good soldiers” (Machiavelli 230). He test argument with historical data that included the Romans who he states that by “making their wars with iron, they never suffered the want of gold, for it was brought to them even into their camp, by those who feared them” (230). Although I do agree with him that good soldiers are a major factor in becoming victorious in war, I also do believe that money is also a major factor. If we were to put Machiavelli’s thoughts and apply them to the technolog

The next article that was assigned was V.I. Lenin’s Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, which he contends that superabundance of capitalism has accumulated in advance countries, which has created a world market (Lenin 243). Lenin further examines this idea by investigating the issue of imperialism, which he defines as the “monopoly stage of capitalism” (247). Are we right now in a stage of capitalistic imperialism? From my understanding of the article currently the number three and five of the five essential features apply to the current state of the world. The only debate that I have with Lenin’s argument is if capitalism creates a world market, then how do we explain China, a country based on communistic principles, but it trades with every major country in the world and I would consider it an advanced country.

The next article was a synopsis of Norman Angell’s book, The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power to a National Advantage. Angell argues that society as a whole has passed the stage of development “that commerce and industry of people no longer depend upon the expansion of political frontiers” (Angell 232). He further contends that “it is impossible for one nation to seize by force the wealth or trade of another… war even when victorious can no longer achieve those aims for which people strive” (232). He supports his argument with the idea that t

Some topics in this essay:
Stage Capitalism, War Considered, Advantage Angell, United Iraq, United Britain”, Paradise Bazaar, Richard Betts, United Britain, Norman Angell’s, manchester creed, Geoffrey Blainey’s, articles assigned, major factor, current world, angell idea, sinews war, apply current, world market, arguments applied,