War may be hell, but we are too often attracted to it like moths to the flame. "I have loved war too much," King Louis XIV of France confessed in 1710. "It is well that war is so terrible--we should grow too fond of it," General Robert E. Lee wrote similarly in 1862. And here we are, at the start of the twenty-first century with yet another war with yet another justification for terror, mayhem, and killing. Perhaps, then, there is something to Henry Ward Beecher's observation in Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit (1887): "It is not merely cruelty that leads men to war, it is excitement."

How do you feel about war? Is it justified as a means of self-defense? Is it justified as a means of retaliation? Should we make bombs, not butter?

Regardless of how you feel about war, there is resonance to scholar Max Weber's (1864-1920) classic observation: "The decisive means for politics is violence. Anyone who fails to see this is…a political infant." Perhaps that need not always be, but the reality for now is that countries continue to rely on themselves for protection and sometimes use threats and violence to further their interests. Thus, it is important to examine military power and to grasp the role that force plays in the conduct of international politics. This is the focus of this chapter.

Understand the art of diplomacy and the importance of choosing among various options in its practice by participating in a simulated activity where you need to make crucial diplomatic choices.

Summarize the evolution of diplomacy from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Europe by answering some survey questions.

Understand the major elements of a country’s power by researching the national core, the infrastructure, the economy, and the military of three different nations.

An educated population is important to national power. This map details the illiteracy rates in countries around the world.

The size of a country's population can be a positive or negative factor in its power. This map details the population density of nations around the world.

Research additional information about world diplomacy by surfing the links selected for this chapter.