2. Introduction
• Melian dialogue concerns the invasion of the
island Melos by Athens in 416 BC.
• The dialogue was between the Athenian
emissaries and rulers of Melos.
– Actually the Athenians wanted to incorporate
Melos into their empire for its wealth and
important position in Aegean Sea.
– The dialogue ended without any compromise and
eventually Melos was destroyed by the Athenians.
3. • The Athenians sent a fleet of 38 ships carrying
3000 soldiers to island Melos in the summers
of 416 BC and later reinforcements also
arrived.
• But before all this a truce was made with the
Spartans who were a potential threat to the
Athenians.
• When the dialogue failed Athenians invaded
the island and genocide occurred.
4. Theme
• Melian dialogue is the one of the profound
example of Political Realism. The Melian
Dialogue is frequently cited by political
scientists and diplomats as a classic case study
in political realism.
5. • Cause of Dispute:
– Strategic and Economic importance (wealth)
• Strategic importance of the Island Melos:
– The people of Melos were Dorians and kin to
the Spartans, but were independent of any of the
mainland empires.
– For years, the Athenians had desired to incorporate
Melos into their empire for its wealth and strategic
location in the Aegean Sea.
• Spartans were supported:
– In 431 BC, Athens and Sparta and their respective
allies went to war.
– In 427 BC, some Melians may have made donations to
the Spartan war effort, but otherwise the island
remained neutral in the war.
6. • Diplomatic Failures
– In 426 BC, the Athenians sent a small force to
ravage the Melian countryside.
– In 425 BC, the Athenians formally demanded a
tribute of fifteen talents (equivalent of
6,000 drachmae), but Melos refused to pay.
– After setting up camp on the island, the Athenians
sent emissaries who met in private with the rulers
of Melos.
• The emissaries demanded that Melos join the
Athenian-dominated Delian League and pay tribute to
Athens or face destruction.
• The Melians rejected the ultimatum.
7. • Tactical failure of preemptive defense:
– They could neither prepare nor could perceive the
potential attack of the Athenians.
• Genocide:
– The Athenians laid siege to the city and withdrew
most of their troops from the island to fight
elsewhere.
– For months the Melians withstood the siege, but with
reinforcements from Athens and the help of traitors
within Melos, the Athenians took the city that winter.
– The Athenians executed all the adult men they caught
and sold the women and children into slavery.
• They then settled 500 of their own colonists on the island.
8. • Great Maneuver and Truce
– Spartan intervention was stopped through truce
between Sparta and Athenians
– In the summer of 416 BC, during a truce with
Sparta, Athens sent a fleet of 38 ships carrying an
army of 3,000 men, led by the generals
Cleomedes and Tisias, to conquer the island.
9. • Success and Failure of Political Vision
– The Athenians appealed to the Melians' sense of
pragmatism, citing the overwhelming odds,
whereas the Melians appealed to the Athenians'
sense of decency and fear of the gods.
– Neither side was able to sway the other and the
negotiations failed.
• War of sense of Pragmatism
• Sense of Decency & fear of gods
10. Lessons Learned
• Near neighbor was not given an importance
• Potential power of the near neighbor was not
measured
• Strategic alliance was not formed with the
Spartans through giving them realization of
their strategic importance of their location in
the mouth of bay of Aegean Sea
• Negligence in the own defense arrangements
11. • Treaty was not signed on the demand of
Athenians to reduce the scourge of war as a
temporary arrangement
• Melians could not realize the intentions of
Athenians through demand of 1500 talents in 425
BC
• Melenian Lack of flexibility
• The Melians put their trust in assistance from
chance, the gods, and the Spartans…all of which
let them down.
• In the end, the Classical Realism theory of
international politics did win this battle.
12. Spartan Strategic and Political Failures
• They could not realize the strategic
importance of Melos which could block their
future movements in the Mediterranean sea
• They couldn’t realize that they could use
Melos as a satellite state being inhabited by
their kins.
• The initial failure of the political vision
resulted into a war between Athenians and
the Spartans to restore their kinship under the
above mentioned strategic thinking.
13. Analogy of the Aegean Sea, Bay of
Bengal and Pacific Ocean
• In the greater strategic scenario developed in the
region through US-Indian strategic alliance where
India has occupied Andaman and Nicobar islands in
the entrance of bay of Bengal, Pakistan if get signed
strategic partnership with Bengal can create a
sandwich syndrome for India through having its
strategic bases in Bangladesh on the analogy of
kinship of Spartans and their kins at Melos.
14. • In the near history America had the Subic and
Clark bases in Philippine and De Nang and Tan
Son Nhut bases at Vietnam to use them as
satellite states against the Russian
containment or the Chinese containment.
• In the recent history China is also out posting
in the pacific through occupying the
strategically important islands.
15. Conclusion
• Pakistan has taken a new start through a popular
government whose national policy will be formed
by Prime Minister and COAS needs to be
supported by the enlightened masses.
• An integrated eco-strategic and eco-political
foreign policy is required to be formulated to
achieve the maximum national interest. All sort
of dialogues be arranged, discussed and executed
in the greater perspective of peace.
