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Compare And Contrast Machiavelli And Chanakya's Views On War

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THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN KAUTILYA’S AND MACHIAVELLI’S VIEWS ON WAR. A war is a state of armed conflict between countries or different groups within a country as defined in the oxford dictionary. In this essay I am going to present views of western and non-western political thinkers like Chanakya and Machiavelli on war. Chanakya used to write his books under the alias of Kautilya. One of his finest works is arthshastra which means “science of politics and administration” but it covers vast portion on how and why war should be commenced. Machiavelli wrote a book called the art of war in which he expresses his views on war. According to Kautilya a king must be always ready to wage a war, it is …show more content…

According to Machiavelli rulers were of the thought that expansion of power was an important criterion to wage war. He had a broad perspective towards war. A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, then war and its rules and discipline for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. Machiavelli says a ruler should wage war always to expand its power and whoever thought more of peace they would lose their state. The reason of losing is to neglect the art and what enables you to acquire a state is to be master of the art. Machiavelli also said that a state being unarmed causes you to be despised and this is one of those state of dishonour against which a ruler should guard himself. “Because, there being in the one disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to work well together”. A ruler should always wage war and win it. It is not reasonable or proportionate to show mercy or obedience to unarmed men by armed ones. A king who does not understand how, when and why a war is commenced and the art to control it, he cannot gain the trust and respect of his soldiers nor can he rely on them. If a king is weak and wants peace not war then he should practice how to maintain peace and for this …show more content…

Kautilya emphasises a lot on the moral conduct of a war and he also believes in pardoning the troops of the lost side whereas Machiavelli believed that all men present on the battlefield should be exterminated so that it decreases the chance of any new uprising against the

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