Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest military commanders of all time, paid keen attention to his soldiers’ morale. He once claimed that “In war, moral factors account for three-quarters of the whole; relative material strength accounts for only one-quarter.” The ancient Greek author Xenophon made similar observations in his work The Education of Cyrus. Cyrus the Great, the first Persian Emperor, assiduously attempted to instill confidence and discipline in his troops. Even with the greatest numbers and most advanced equipment, a trembling and demoralized army will lose to a smaller, more determined force.
What holds true for militaries also holds true for nations as a whole. Materially strong nations that lack moral resolve never overcome their more determined neighbors. Hardened barbarians can destroy soft and decadent Romans, even if they possess inferior equipment and worse infrastructure.
For this reason, a statesman must maintain the morale of his citizens and the vision of his nation. National leaders are not merely upper-level bureaucrats who adhere to fixed rules and poll-tested platitudes. Rather, they both guide and respond to the national spirit.
In many countries, leaders have forgotten this goal. Those who gather at Davos, for example, distance themselves from the people in order to impose their own global ideologies. This problem also presents itself in America. As the late Henry Kissinger wrote “[t]he civic patriotism that once lent prestige to public service appears to have been outflanked by an identity-based factionalism and a competing cosmopolitanism. In America, a growing number of college graduates aspire to become globe-trotting corporate executives and professional activists.” In many places, national pride has given way to shame and rejection of Western values.
Europe, however, has gone much farther down the path of national decay. Economic sluggishness, burgeoning censorship, and mass migration all contribute to a general malaise. Politicians are unresponsive to the wishes of voters as illustrated by the recent rout of the U.K. Conservative Party. Far from representing a permanent leftward shift, the election demonstrated the Conservatives’ lack of concern for their voters. As CNN reported, “Starmer’s [Labour] party only increased its vote share by a few percentage points from its dismal 2019 showing.” Indeed, according to Politico “Actual voter turnout was the second-lowest in a century.” Concerns about the general management of the country, especially immigration all contributed to the defeat.
Numerous other examples demonstrate the dissatisfaction of many Europeans with their governments. Populism is on the rise in France and the Netherlands and a growing number of anti-immigration candidates recently won historic victories. In each country, elites have scrambled to prevent right-wing parties from exercising political power. In the midst of this turmoil, J.D. Vance provided a voice of moral clarity.
Last week, the Vice President delivered remarks at the Munich Security Conference. A typical politician would have highlighted international threats and encouraged increased defense spending. Nonetheless, the Vice President shocked his audience when he said “the threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” Vance then proceeded to reprimand European leaders’ embrace of censorship and speech codes. Such actions, he said, are “the most surefire way to destroy democracy.”
Furthermore, the Vice President issued a warning about the dangers of unfettered immigration. As he noted, “No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants… And more and more, all over Europe, they’re voting for political leaders who promise to put an end to out-of-control migration.” The Vice President acknowledged the reality of these concerns and urged others to do the same.
Essentially, the Vice President’s speech was designed to remind Europeans of their democratic heritage. As he told his audience “I’ve heard a lot about what you need to defend yourselves from, and, of course, that’s important. But what has seemed a little bit less clear to me and certainly, I think, to many of the citizens of Europe, is what exactly it is that you’re defending yourselves for. What is the positive vision that animates this shared security compact that we all believe is so important?” Indeed, without a shared commitment to our respective civilizations accompanied by a willingness to defend them, a close alliance loses its meaning.
Like the statesmen before him the Vice President understands that military supremacy is futile in the absence of moral resolve. Increased defense spending also requires strong and committed nations. For “how will you even begin to think through the kinds of budgeting questions if we don’t know what it is that we’re defending in the first place?” Indeed, Western military might requires confidence in the future and a firm commitment to our shared civilization.
