Archaeologists are fascinated by the study of ancient civilizations, and they would love to be able to meet and talk to people from those civilizations.

Unfortunately, they have to make do with only the dry bones of the civilization or culture they are studying or the ruins of their buildings. The study of military history, for me, holds the same fascination.

I have always been interested in military history as an indication of the state of a nation or civilization.

Armies, their composition, equipment, orders of battle and tactics are easy aspects of a civilization for us to examine and analyze. They tend to be large and, with their main activity, war, very public.

There are many people involved, which leaves scope for rich eyewitness accounts, as well as accounts from their opponents’ side too. An example of this is the Roman Army that over the centuries reflected Roman society and culture and shows a highly materialistic and brutal civilization up until the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire.

Today, the United States of America is the culmination of 500 years of Western civilization. In other words it is the fruit of the mighty tree of Western civilization, which began with the age of Enlightenment. It is a civilization that, despite popular misconception, has nothing to do with the Greco-Roman one. (A subject for a future article, God willing). Therefore the success of the US is by extension the success of the West as a whole, in spite of those who insist on their difference, and its failure, conversely, is the failure of all as well.

The study of the US armed forces is of great interest as a study of US culture. An example of this is the abolition of the draft after the Vietnam War. This was supposed to make the US Armed forces a professional, highly motivated and efficient fighting force. But it has had an unforeseen consequence in that the army’s ability to act as a melting pot for US citizens has been lost. There is no longer any institution in the US which brings together hundreds of thousands of citizens from all walks of life in an environment of service, loyalty and self-sacrifice.

The draft also forced all levels and classes of US society to bear an equal share in the defense of their country. Today the burden of defense falls mostly on the poor and disenfranchised members of US society and on foreign nationals hoping to become Americans.

An interesting parallel occurred in Roman times when the rich Romans refused to send their sons into the army. Roman armies became composed mostly of non-Italians and other members of the lower classes of the Roman Empire. Roman soldiers became more loyal to the army in which they served and to their military commanders than to the Roman state. This led over time to disaffected troops who would mutiny and elevate one of their commanders to the Imperial purple. So we saw Germans, Spaniards and, yes, even Arabs becoming emperors of Rome. (To be continued next week)

- Arab News Opinion 14 September 2003