John Keegan Quotes
A superpower, however, is only as good as the forces through which it exercises that power.
John Keegan, Military Historian, “The Making of the American G.I.,” Time, January 5, 2004
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
His response was to being asked whether he could do something with Russian Catholics to help Laval win favor with the Pope, to counter the increasing threat of Nazism. This quotation is often used as an example of Stalin’s disrespect for the Papacy. However, in this case, the Pope was extremely weak politically and some argue spiritually for he did not oppose Hitler and the Nazis very much. Defenders of the Papacy argue that Hitler had overwhelming force and little respect for the Pope, and ironically this was what Stain was referring to. Ironically, another Pope, John Paul, had a major part in bring down the Soviet Union and he had no divisions.
It is hard for us to envision that sophisticated and intelligent men like Sherman would actually see Communism as a danger of defeating capitalism. Our intelligence was poor and often exaggerated to justify military buildups and much of the leadership made statements like this and then many began to believe their own propaganda. Ironically, those who knew communism the best were more aware and realistic of the fatal flaws in not only communism in general but in the particular Soviet repressive version of communism. It would take almost 50 years, but the Soviet Union collapsed revealing its weaknesses for all to see.
This was a warning to Saudi Arabia that the United States might seize the oil fields. At the time we were not getting enough oil for domestic needs and the military in Europe and in Vietnam. The King arranged to secretly supply oil to the United States while maintaining to the other Arab countries that it was maintaining the boycott of the West.
Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan OBE FRSL was an English military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, air, maritime, intelligence warfare and the psychology of battle.
