Visible capacity for war deters it, so preparation and peace are complements rather than opposites.
Vegetius, around AD 390. It is the deterrence intuition, and the security dilemma is its counterweight — preparation that deters one party provokes another.
In practice
- A country that maintains a credible army fights no war for forty years, and cannot show the army was the reason.
- A firm that builds visible legal capability is sued less often, and is also read as litigious by partners it wanted.
- Standing
- The deterrence intuition; the security dilemma is its counterweight.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Law & Politics
- Essay
- Rules that restrain power, and advice on using it