When Strength Becomes Suicide: Lessons For Nations With Something To Lose
What is the use of wars? Are there any advantages? If there are, know for sure that for every advantage there are more disadvantages. Wars are most times triggered by egos, but people forget that not all wars end well. At war, there are always two sides: The weaker party and the stronger party. The weaker party might not necessarily be a weaker party in itself, but it is the union of the “stronger party" with neighboring nations that increases its strength. The irony is that no matter how strong you seem or appear to be, you can't know how strong you are until the war ends.
Many are of the opinions that it is during wars you truly know your strength, but at the expense of what? If you must fight, make sure you are calculating things well. You don't fight with one who doesn't have something to lose; if you know you have something to lose or you're at a greater part of the receiving end, avoiding the war is important. You can't do a strength-test without calculating what you stand to lose. Many nations go into wars without thoughts of where they stand: you can't tell who is truly for you until war breaks out — everything is solely diplomacy - being diplomatic is everything. Diplomacy would always win over ego.
Knowing how and when to attack is key; some attacks don't need to come immediately. Who even says you can't win a war without fighting. You don't have to attack and respond to everything outrightly and immediately; sometimes, you need to sit, think, calculate your potential losses against the wins and re-strategize. Wars are terrible and if you don't calculate the potential risks thoroughly, you might not recover from the loss. You can never tell the outcome of the war, so why fight wars if you aren't sure of winning. Even if you're sure of winning, that doesn't guarantee your win. Wars are great lesson teachers: the impossible are always possible and the improbable probable.
In conclusion, never fight a war you're not certain of winning because you'd only end up losing a lot than you imagined and after all is said and done, only you would nurse your injuries. Even if you're sure, it isn't a signal that you would win. Sides can be changed and tables turned — leaving you in shock. Remember, wars can pull down what you've been building for years in just a short time; so, why engage in it? Strength isn't always seen in winning or confrontation; great strength is in walking away.