Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
OK, enough mathematical description of reality. My point is that much in warfare is relative, this applies very well to the people's choice of sides as well. This is a major topic of interest nowadays and the relative nature of both sides' strengths and weaknesses in this competition for allegiance is really important.
Well here in the Mid-East we are supposed to have Absolute allegiances, but even they are not what they seem. Politics is pretty much all above the "relative" and rarely the "absolute."

I hope I also reminded of the complexity of those choices. Losing people to the other side for one weakness may be compensated for by a strength or by fighting another weakness. It's not all about *insert silver bullet aspect of the day here*.
3,000 years of history would not argue with you.


I guess all those paid anthropologists have long figured out and described hundreds of pages this stuff - one more reason to wonder why the talk is so much in absolute instead of relative terms.
The problem with folks other than good military historians dabbling in this field, is the use of terms, words and phrases which may actually obscure such observations!