a. Characteristics of Political Activity

a. Characteristics of Political Activity

 

If we presume the continuous essence of war and politics and understand politics, we can say the following about the important characteristics of political activity:

 

         [Ch.2.11] Political (and diplomatic) activity is the activity of reorganizing the internal (and external) order of the group.

 

The reason for political activities to reorganize the internal and external order of a political group is to increase its survival viability^[Ch.2.4]. This originates from survival process theory. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, politically unified the Arab tribes which were divided by different languages, religions and rulers, thereby renovating the entire region into a new order system in almost a century. This is the birth of the empire we know. The British naval power that dominated the world was based on a progressive political system of colonial imperialism established through glory revolutions, and this too is a product of order reorganization. One can also find the opposite example. In 1876, the Indian tribe defeated the United States forces led by General Custer at the Little Bighorn Battle, but without a political organization to maintain unity, it was soon driven away.

 

I think that the general discussion of including diplomacy in politics is appropriate in many cases. The difference is that while politics is the activity of reorganizing the order within the political body, diplomacy is simply the activity of reorganizing the order outside the political body. Here, order refers to "cooperative relationships" or "framework of cooperative relationships," which simply means following shared rules (i.e., relationships of power^[Ch.2.7]). In 17th century European politics, even if there was temporary disturbances of the balance of power, it was only local and temporary, and could be controlled through diplomacy. Thus, diplomacy, which reorganizes the order outside the political body, can be understood as an internal political process within the larger political system of international relations.

 

Politics is war preparation^[Ch.2.10], but as seen through Admiral Yi Sun-sin's military activities, war preparation includes not only economic activities but also cultural activities such as accumulation of knowledge. Therefore, if we separate the political part (not economic or cultural) from these activities, the core is to make people's behavior act cooperatively through cohesion. This is simply to say that politics is an activity of reorganizing the order of the group. In the context of survival process theory, "reorganizing the order" refers to maintaining stable cooperative relationships through cohesion, and all cohesive relationships are based on rules, so the following principle applies.

 

         [Ch.2.12] Reorganizing the order is manifested as an activity of creating rules and enforcing compliance with them.

 

The starting point for creating rules and enforcing them is voluntary cooperation. Forced cooperation is still cooperation, but for this, a powerful organization with enough coercive power must be established. This organization may depend on another internal force, but the original coercion within it must originate from an organization established through voluntary coercion. This is why the leaders of empires that need to maintain strong power for a long time require not only superior strength but also ethical traits, including empathy. This is because empathy leads to voluntary cooperation from others.

 

For example, Genghis Khan, who led a fearless nomadic tribe and built the world's strongest conquering nation, is easily imagined as a person with great power, but it is said that he was an unchanging and trustworthy protector of those who trusted him. The Mongols at the time had the world's best combat technology. It was the eternal and unchanging tactics of the nomads, who passed down the art of archery from at least the 5th century AD, during the time of the Attila and the Gothic Empire, to Genghis Khan. However, the Mongols before Genghis Khan were not prominent in world history due to their internal strife, as each tribe killed each other in order to capture their own pasture and livestock. Genghis Khan did not make the world empire with his superior tactics or martial arts, but by integrating the people who were torn apart by the war into one power and organization, and thus regained the world.

 

Going back in time to the 5th century, Attila who invaded Europe and put it in terror by invading Rome and Germania with the Roman and German worlds, was no different from Genghis Khan. It is said that he had "fair and clean judgments for the people and gentleness for his servants, but he was satisfied with living modestly, unlike his servants who lived gracefully, for example, when others ate with gold plates, he used wooden plates."