Text Study: Thucydides' Peloponnesian War

In the fifth week of the Security Studies Program, fellows will turn to the ancient origins of strategic thought through a study of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. Written in the late fifth century BCE, Thucydides’ work was intended “not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.” Statesmen, soldiers, and philosophers have returned to it ever since.

This course will consider what Thucydides can teach us about the permanent questions of political life: the origins of political order, the nature of human excellence, the causes and character of war, and the human longing for conflict. Fellows will also explore issues with particular relevance today: how democratic statesmen should respond to plagues, why political order collapse into faction, and under what conditions a rising power renders war “inevitable.”

Over five sessions, fellows will read much of Thucydides’ History and come to appreciate why his work has remained a strategic and philosophical “possession for all time.”

Image: Detail from the Chigi-vase, Wikimedia Commons

Prof. Liebert on Thucydides

This course is part of our residential Security Studies Program. Fellows participate in morning seminars and meet national security leaders and experts over afternoon and evening sessions. Up to 16 fellows will be selected.

Faculty

Hugh Liebert

Hugh Liebert is a Professor of American Politics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, where he teaches courses in political philosophy, American politics, and civil-military relations. He is the author of Plutarch’s Politics.

Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session

Session I

Session II

Session III

Session IV

Session V

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Advanced undergraduates, recent graduates, and young professionals under 35 are all eligible to apply. Up to 16 fellows will be selected.

Admission is extremely competitive, and every year we decline admission to many highly qualified applicants simply due to lack of space. A typical competitive applicant will have:

An undergraduate GPA > 3.7
A statement of purpose that tells us how the applicant’s interests and ambitions relate to the preferred program. The statement of purpose is very important and deserves careful attention.
An academic writing sample that demonstrates the applicant’s powers of analysis and independent thought, and not only their ability to do scholarly research or comment on a text.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

CV OR RÉSUMÉ
PERSONAL STATEMENT

Describe your background, your intellectual interests, and your future ambitions as they relate to the program (1,000 words or less)
ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT(S)

Unofficial; required only for current students or recent grads
ACADEMIC OR PROFESSIONAL WRITING SAMPLE

12 pages maximum; double-spaced. Please send academic writing that best showcases your ability to invent and sustain a persuasive argument, no matter the subject-matter.
LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION / REFERENCE

Standard applicants will submit one letter of recommendation. Nominated applicants will submit two references & contact info.

Apply Now

Alumni Spotlight

Caleb Orr

Caleb Orr completed his degree at Abilene Christian University while also serving as an intern and later legislative correspondent in the office of Senator Marco Rubio. Caleb participated in Hertog’s “Great Figures of the 20th Century” Weekend Seminars series, with sessions on Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and David Ben-Gurion.

“Hertog Foundation programs bring the kind of education that you expect at an elite university, combined with a grounding in the civilizational values that America was founded on and made us able to produce freedom, order, and prosperity. As a result of that, students are able to come together in an environment where you’re with many smart people from different fields and learn from one another.”

Caleb Orr

Current Position:

Judicial Law Clerk
Past:

Policy Advisor, Office of Senator Marco Rubio
Education:

Abilene Christian University | Georgetown University Law Center

TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR CAREER PATH. HOW DOES HERTOG FIT IN TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL GOALS?

Working on Capitol Hill is all about keeping in touch with what other members of Congress are doing and partnering with them based on their expertise and abilities. So getting to know other Hill staff from Hertog, but also people in the think-tank community has been very helpful in connecting me to those resources and being able to serve Senator Rubio better as a staffer.

DO YOU THINK HERTOG PROGRAMS ARE BENEFICIAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED IN PUBLIC POLICY AND LEGISLATION?

One-hundred percent. It’s a great entryway into the world of DC. Hertog programs provide access points into Capitol Hill and the academic community in ways that you don’t get at universities across America.

WHAT STICKS OUT IN YOUR MEMORY ABOUT YOUR EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH HERTOG PROGRAMS?

With the Weekend Seminars, the Foundation brought in some of the most well-known experts to lead seminars about each of these leaders. The ability to really have an intensive session over a weekend where you’re spending time with these scholars—in an academic setting, but also over dinner or drinks—really allowed you to get to know them as people, which made them all the more effective in conveying the subject matter. It was interesting to take that much of a deep dive into world leaders. To explore all the ins and outs, both the good and the bad of their characters, was helpful in seeing how the same traits that produce epic achievements can also lead to moral failures.

OVERALL, WHAT WAS YOUR IMPRESSION OF HERTOG PROGRAMS?

Hertog Foundation programs bring the kind of education that you expect at an elite university, combined with a grounding in the civilizational values that America was founded on and made us able to produce freedom, order, and prosperity. As a result of that, students are able to come together in an environment where you’re with many smart people from different fields and learn from one another.

It really is remarkable how vibrant the alumni community is and how much I’ve stayed in contact with people I met at Hertog. I think that’s unique, even when compared to other DC fellowship programs I’ve done. In fact, I’ve started to meet up with two other Hertog alumni about every other week to get steak dinners and just talk politics.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS? IN A SIMILAR JOB, OR EMBARKING ON SOMETHING DIFFERENT?

I want to be promoting the kind of human flourishing that I learned about at Hertog – ordered liberty, the American family, and American leadership. I want to be working for the first “reformicon” president in the White House.