Machiavelli and Foreign Policy

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Machiavelli in his book "The Prince" believed that a prince who dealt with a territory which was not his own principality, should imitate the methods of others that have been successful at ruling conquered peoples but aim at higher goals. The author points out that Machiavelli believed it was much harder to maintain a principality based on alliances with nobles rather than with the people. The paper relates that Machiavelli noted that a prince is respected when he is either a true friend or a downright enemy; therefore, a prince should declare himself in favor of one party or against another but never standing neutral.

Table of Contents
How a Prince Should Deal with Territories He has Conquered
With Whom Should a Prince Form Alliances
The Prince, the Military and War
On Arming the People
How a Prince May Use Foreign Conflicts to Enhance His Status

From the Paper:

"According to Machiavelli's definition, auxiliaries were armed forces lent to a prince by a stronger force to accomplish a particular task. He wrote that these arms may be useful and good in themselves, but for him who calls them in they are always disadvantageous; for losing, one is undone and winning, one is their captive. Machiavelli notes that wise men believe that nothing was as uncertain as fame or power not founded on its own strength. A wise prince could find a way to ready his own troops, controlling auxiliaries or mercenaries was futile.
For a prince to have access to the strength of his own troops, Machiavelli believed that a Prince should have "no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline"."

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