“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” In a nutshell, that is the alpha and omega of international relations related by Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War. Diplomats are inconsequential like extras in a Cecil B. DeMille cinematic extravaganza. Thus, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin scoffed to Winston Churchill, “How many divisions has the Pope?” The Papal States maintained armies until their dissolution in 1870. They did not rely on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to defend their sovereignty. As Oliver Cromwell exhorted his New Model Army before the Battle of Marston Moor, “Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry.”

The futility of diplomacy is exemplified in the Melian dialogue chronicled by Thucydides. Athens demands that Melos become a tributary

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