the political ramifications of war. Such as when America entered into Desert Storm under President Bush. President Bush allowed the military leaders to decide the course of military action, for the most part, while he met and worked out differences with leaders from other countries in attempts to keep peace with countries outside of Saudi Arabia.In times of war, soldiers must never trust the enemy, and must also, if necessary, deceive those around them to attain a goal he or she believes to be cause-worthy. The same is true in the interrelations of politicians in today's modern government. The political campaign field can be thought of as one of battle. The opposing forces are made up of political parties, or even opposing politicians of the same party, facing one another in a campaign or debate. Machiavelli says that " the princes who have accomplished great deeds are those who have cared little for keeping their promises and who have known how to manipulate the minds of men by shrewdness" (43). To understand the application of this theory into modern government, the separate political parties must be viewed as a single politician. The modern politician, whether it be morally right or wrong, must, in essence, lie to achieve office. These lies are called "campaign promises" in political lingo. Campaign promises have been abandoned so often that the common people do not expect them to be kept. These promises are made because of the self-preserving instinct of the politicians. For example, President Bush is now remembered for the words: "read my lipsno new taxes." However, taxes were raised and another "campaign promise" was broken. The political parties make similar promises to the people to gain support, and those promises are just as likely to be abandoned without a second thought. The interpretation ideas of Machiavelli have, indeed, morphed with the change in governmental structure. Some of his ideas have fallen to th...
