"Our modern states are preparing for war without even knowing the future enemy"
About this Quote
Adler points to a paradox of modern politics: war planning has become a permanent feature of statecraft even when no concrete adversary is in sight. Preparation is no longer a response to an identified threat but a standing posture, a habit of mind and institution. The future enemy is a blank space that strategy, bureaucracy, and fear are ready to fill. This shift reveals how modern states treat conflict as an inevitability, building systems that presuppose hostility and then work backward to justify it.
As a psychologist formed by the trauma of World War I, Adler read collective behavior through the lens of individual motivation. He argued that insecurity and feelings of inferiority often drive an exaggerated pursuit of power. Scaled up, entire nations can overcompensate, projecting weakness outward and organizing life around imagined dangers. The result is a culture of mobilization: standing armies, stockpiles, war colleges, and narratives that normalize the possibility of total war. Such readiness can harden into identity, teaching citizens to see the world through suspicion and leaders to govern by alarm.
There is also a strategic trap at work. When one state prepares for a hypothetical foe, others feel compelled to do the same, producing the spiral known as the security dilemma. Arms races conjure the very antagonisms they claim to deter, and the faceless future enemy becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Resources flow to defense not because of what is, but because of what might be, and the machinery that profits from vigilance lobbies to keep it that way.
Adler contrasted this with social interest, the commitment to cooperation and shared purpose. Societies grounded in mutual responsibility are less tempted by fantasies of omnipotence and less captive to fear. His warning suggests that real security comes not from rehearsing unknown wars, but from building institutions and relationships that reduce the need to imagine enemies at all.
As a psychologist formed by the trauma of World War I, Adler read collective behavior through the lens of individual motivation. He argued that insecurity and feelings of inferiority often drive an exaggerated pursuit of power. Scaled up, entire nations can overcompensate, projecting weakness outward and organizing life around imagined dangers. The result is a culture of mobilization: standing armies, stockpiles, war colleges, and narratives that normalize the possibility of total war. Such readiness can harden into identity, teaching citizens to see the world through suspicion and leaders to govern by alarm.
There is also a strategic trap at work. When one state prepares for a hypothetical foe, others feel compelled to do the same, producing the spiral known as the security dilemma. Arms races conjure the very antagonisms they claim to deter, and the faceless future enemy becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Resources flow to defense not because of what is, but because of what might be, and the machinery that profits from vigilance lobbies to keep it that way.
Adler contrasted this with social interest, the commitment to cooperation and shared purpose. Societies grounded in mutual responsibility are less tempted by fantasies of omnipotence and less captive to fear. His warning suggests that real security comes not from rehearsing unknown wars, but from building institutions and relationships that reduce the need to imagine enemies at all.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|
More Quotes by Alfred
Add to List
