In every Tangible way, America is a country in decline. Whether it be socially, spiritually or economically , the fabric that once made America a global empire is cracking noticeably at its core. American hubris and addiction to empire has led us into the predicament we currently face. Look no further than Operation Epic Fury. This operation is a wildly unpopular joint military campaign between the USA and Israel that has now cost American taxpayers about $115 Billion dollars within its first 2 months. In an already crippled economy on its last legs the operation has not only been a disaster financially but socially has drawn a line between Americans and their support of the war. Americans are torn on Operation Epic Fury because the objectives are not clear, and many predict another Vietnam war situation with a long drawn out war with no indefinite endpoint that will take the lives of countless people also while not having a clear winner by its end. In return we are stuck with a collapsing and decaying society. America isn’t the first and wont be the last society to collapse because of hubris. In this piece I will explain how the The Peloponnesian War caused ancient Athens, once a world superpower, to collapse during its Golden Age because of the same Imperialistic ideologies and actions that American officials obtain today and why Americans should be weary of the consequences of our militaristic overreach and how it negatively impacts society as a whole in one big domino effect.
To understand the Peloponnesian War and how it relates to the Iran war or operation epic fury we must first understand the similarities between Ancient Athens of Greece and The United States of America today. Although hundreds of years apart, both societies have striking similarities. Both societies were by far the most developed nations of their time. Both were multicultural superpower republics that were found on the concept of “Res Republic” or better known as having or using a senate like government structure that was created in order to represent citizens interest. Both societies focused on decentralizing power in government by creating checks and balances that elected officials would have to adhere to and if they violated these principles they would be removed. Because both societies were the dominant superpowers of its time, both played an enormous role in international territorial expansion and relied on its global influence to regulate trade markets around the world. Pair that influence with total and unregulated military power, the global reach of both countries created a standard of non-stop global expansion and development for their empires. Lastly, what I find to be most important is because of these international and domestic successes, both Ancient Athens and the United States carried and maintained incredible levels of ignorance amongst the general population and ESPECIALLY the figures in government roles. Which in return, perpetuated the decaying of both nations and their cultures.
The Peloponnesian War was fought between The Athenians of ancient Greece from the north VS the Spartans of Ancient Greece from the south. The war was fought from approximately 431 to 404 BC. The 27 year war resulted in an upset victory of the Athenians by the Spartans that would forever change the world and the military landscape of how battles are fought. This was and should be relevant and important to Americans because it shows how dangerous military overreach combined with overconfidence can destroy a society. The Athenians internal political struggle about to how to manage the war provides a great lesson on the limitations of democracy. In 415 BC Athenian General named Alkibiades suggests that the Athenians should invade Sicily. A southern point island, controlled by Sparta that was very wealthy. With this logic, if the Athenians could capture Sicily, then they would control the wealth from the islands resources and labor from the workers and in return would be a boost for their long standing war against Sparta. Addicted to the easy money of empire, this Sicilian Expedition was an utter failure. The Athenians under Alkibiades, devised a plan that would include sending a fleet of 100 Triremes (advanced war ships) carrying about 5000 hoplites (soldiers) to Sicily to take over the island. Another Athenian General named Nicias came up with the idea of sending this huge fleet in order to scare the Spartans. This method is called Shock and Awe. This military strategy is based on the principle of using a spectacular display of force and strength in order to destroy the enemies psyche and perception of the battle. Sending this many men and this many boats, the Athenian Generals were sure that the Spartan army would retreat and or give up. This approach worked early as the Spartans retreated but after a few months it turned deadly. Over confidence and ignorance ruined the operation. The Athenians violated the Three Principles of Military doctrine:
1: Mass Forces- Concentrating the greatest number of troops and weapons in certain positions to destroy an enemies defense.
2. Avoid Encirclement/entrapment- Have an escape or retreat plan/ being able to adjust incase the battle takes an unexpected turn.
3. Protect supply lines- Be able to resupply soldiers with food, weapons, medicine, water, etc.
The Athenians invading Sicily violated all 3 rules of this military doctrine. Sending thousands of soldiers on boats to an island, they quickly became sitting ducks, who could easily be trapped or divided by land. The Athenians quickly found out that they would need reinforcements because they grossly underestimated the strength of the Spartan army. Which leads into the second rule of avoiding entrapment. Being stuck on the island with nowhere to go the Athenian soldiers literally could NOT avoid entrapment. Which ultimately leads to the third rule being violated of protecting supply lines. Because it took 9-10 days to even get to Sicily from Athens, the Athenian soldiers on land were clearly left vulnerable and in a dangerous position. Some estimates say that some Athenian soldiers were trapped for almost 3 months without any contact from their army. The Athenians made the grave mistake of not thinking about resupply. The Athenians sent this huge expedition that could not resupply itself because the Spartan navy nearly made it impossible for the Athenians to reach land again. After about 2 years (415-413) the Athenian army was wiped out and the Sicilian expedition will forever be known as one of the most disastrous military expeditions ever, and was the driving force behind Athens collapsing. The combination of catastrophic and egregious military overreach, fractured and divided leadership and 1/3 of its population dying due to plague and starvation, Athens finally collapsed when the war ended and the Spartans ushered in a new era for control and influence over Ancient Greece. Blocked by sea and surrounded on land, the 27 year war became a battle of attrition that left the Athenians starving and forced to surrender.
The same addiction to empire that the Athenians of Ancient Greece possessed can be seen today in American leadership. Operation Epic Fury is the epitome of this. The United States military allowing foot soldiers to enter Iran and fight is no different than what the Athenians did in ancient Sicily. The result will be just as catastrophic for the American empire. Remember the 3 principles of military doctrine. American military will be violating all 3 by sending ground troops into Iran.
- Mass Forces- Iran’s population is around 90 million people. To even consider overthrowing Iran’s government in order to force regime change, the United States military will need at least 4-5 million soldiers. The problem arises that there are only about 1.3 active military personnel as of 2026 with another 700k in reserves. The United States is at least a few million soldiers short for their objective to go even remotely smoothly. This means that the USA would have to implement a draft that would be extremely unpopular. There will be no will to fight as people would have to fly across the world and fight in what many think is a pointless war.
2. Avoid entrapment/encirclement- Iran is a fortress surrounded by mountains. Soldiers must be air dropped into the battlefield with no escape or retreat route possible. It is highly likely many soldiers will get stuck or trapped in war zones.
3. Protect supply lines- Iran is a desert with lots of mountains with no ability to escape or protect supply lines because everything must be airdropped in by plane. Planes have to airdrop ammo, food, water, medicine or any other supplies. This creates a major risk for planes and jeopardizes the safety of the soldiers and the people delivering them supplies.
Including violating the most common military doctrines, the Iran war/ Operation epic fury is unpopular because how much it is costing American taxpayers. This operation cost $5.82 billion in its first 3 days. That’s over a billion dollars a day. This number will continue to grow the longer this war drags out and the citizens will feel the brunt of it. Taking money from social services and using it on the military will have a direct result on the health and happiness of American citizens. For example, the military budget has increased $445 billion dollars in one year under Trump to $1.5 TRILLION dollars. By 2035 this number is expected to quadruple to $5.8 Trillion. In the same breath, $73 billion dollars has been cut from social services like Medicaid, Medicare, head start and other child care domestic programs. We have money for war but don’t have money to feed the poor. Over $7 billion dollars has been restricted in Temporary assistance for needy families. America is in deep trouble at this rate and will bankrupt its own citizens in order to fight a very meaningless war to most. This is exactly the same mistake the Athenians made.
Throughout American history we have seen how negatively drawn out conflicts have not worked in our favor. Major USA involvement in the Vietnam war lasted about 8 years (1965-1973). 59,000 US military members were killed, another 300 thousand wounded. The Vietnam war in todays dollars estimated to have cost American tax payers 1.3 trillion dollars as the government spent more and used more bombs in the Vietnam conflict than it did in world war 2. This long term commitment was probably the most unpopular war in American history. With no clear objectives and no clear strategy Americans loss their will to fight, participate or even support the war. Many people may ask why America stayed in the conflict so long? The truth is, the American government was embarrassed and felt they put too many eggs in one basket to just walk away. This is called Sunk Cost Fallacy. This is the irrational tendency to continue to do something because of previously invested resources. (Time, money, effort). Even when current costs outweigh benefits, humans still sometimes have a desire to avoid that regret of it not working and refuse to abandon the project. They do not want to waste prior investments and this is exactly what occurred in the Peloponnesian war, the Vietnam war, the Iraq war and I predict this will happen in the Iran war.
The result of these 3 conflicts was the same. A fractured economy, fractured leadership, a total distrust of government by its citizens, overspending and overreach on military operations and a division amongst groups in a culture. I believe that at this pace, America will fall into this same trap and our culture and society that is already hanging on by a thread will be destroyed. We must free ourselves from the bloodthirst of the military industrial complex if we want to improve or even maintain our way of living.
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