The Strategy of Machiavelli

Was Machiavelli serious or sarcastic? This video takes Machiavelli's political writings and interprets them through the lens of state strategy during the Italian Wars. Here, Machiavelli appears not as a philosopher or jokester, but as an experienced diplomat aware that Italian republicanism was losing out to the ascendant monarchies of Europe. To counter this, he proposed a dualistic strategy, where both power disruption and maintenance become important weapons in a prince's arsenal.

SCRIPT: https://strategosstuff.blogspot.com/2...

All errors are my own. I apologize for the bad sound quality.

▬ CHAPTERS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Introduction
1:40 - Machiavelli’s Dualism: Fortuna and Virtù
4:15 - The Strategy of Virtù
9:34 - The Strategy of Fortuna
21:24 - Conclusion

▬ SOURCES ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Machiavelli N. The Essential Writings of Machiavelli. Modern Library 2007.
'The Prince'
'How Duke Valentino Killed the Generals Who Conspired Against Him'
'Discourse on Pisa', 'Pistoian Matters', 'On How to Treat the Populace of Valdichiana After Their Rebellion'
Miscellaneous Letters
Machiavelli N. Art of War. University of Chicago Press 2005.
Machiavelli N. Discourses on Livy. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10827
Machiavelli N. Florentine Histories. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2464/...
Benner E. Machiavelli's Prince. Oxford University Press 2013.
Mallet M; Shaw C. The Italian Wars 1494-1559. Routledge 2018.

Mitchell A. The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire. Princeton University Press 2018.
Craig G; Alexander G. Force and Statecraft. Oxford University Press 1995.
USA. National Security Strategy. 2017.
USA. Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy. 2018.

▬ ATTRIBUTIONS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Wikipedia (Maps + Basic facts)
Google Maps
Sandler T, George J. 'Military Expenditure Trends for 1960–2014 and What They Reveal' in Global Policy 7:2, Mar 2016. (Military Expenditure)
World Bank Open Data (Military Expenditure)
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database (Military Expenditure)

Made using Powerpoint 2013, WavePad and VideoPad.