When are wars decisive?

Abstract

Victory on the battlefield, however overwhelming, cannot by itself decide the issue of a war. Unless military victory is to be followed by conquest and prolonged occupation, the victor's terms have to be accepted and implemented by the defeated government, or by one that is not only prepared to do so but can make them acceptable to its people. Making those terms acceptable depends largely on the Thucydidean concept of 'honour', a concept as relevant to the modern world as it was for classical antiquity.