Ep 91: Paul Rahe on Sparta’s Grand Strategy

Paul Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale College, and author of Sparta's Sicilian Proxy War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 418-413 BC, joins the show to talk about proxy wars, the strategy of Sparta, and the role of regimes in the shaping of foreign policy. ▪️ Times      •    01:37 Introduction      •    06:43 Donald Kagan     •    08:32 The Spartan point of view     •   11:59 Why change the perspective?     •    17:30 Sparta’s goals     •    24:59 Why does Sparta matter?      •    31:56 “Putin’s completely irrational”     •   33:56 Is Realism dangerous?     •    39:17 Why do the Athenians go to Sicily?     •    44:35 Alcibiades     •    47:06 Could the Athenians have won?     •    49:11 The significance of victory Follow along  on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack