{"id":25676,"date":"2026-01-11T13:53:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/?p=25676"},"modified":"2026-01-11T13:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:53:29","slug":"contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\/","title":{"rendered":"Contextualizing the \u201cLessons of Munich\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>History does not teach lessons. Lessons are distilled at best, often selectively. The standard lesson of the 1938 Munich Agreement is that any compromise with aggression will lead to more aggression. But the danger of &#8220;conciliation&#8221; or &#8220;appeasement&#8221; admits degrees depending on the circumstances or genesis of the violation and the security arrangements that follow conflict. The counsel of Munich needs to be contextualized, as the following articles argue:<\/p>\n<p>Stephen M. Walt, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2024\/04\/29\/appeasement-is-underrated\/\">Appeasement Is Underrated<\/a>,\u201d <em>Foreign Policy<\/em> (29 April 2024)<\/p>\n<p>Mark Episkopos, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/responsiblestatecraft.org\/munich\/\">It&#8217;s time to retire the Munich analogy<\/a>,\u201d Responsible Statecraft, 13 Dec 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Latham, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/national-security\/585998-learning-the-real-lessons-of-neville-chamberlains-appeasement\/\">This is not 1938 \u2014 so stop talking about appeasement<\/a>,&#8221;<em>The Hill<\/em> (16 Dec 2021)<\/p>\n<p>Tom Switzer, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ussc.edu.au\/in-defence-of-occasional-appeasement\">In defence of (occasional) appeasement<\/a>,\u201d <em>The Quadrant,<\/em> US Studies Center, University of Sydney, 6 Oct 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Geoffrey Wheatcroft, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/115803\/munich-analogies-are-inaccurate-cliched-and-dangerous\">On the Use and Abuse of Munich<\/a>,\u201d <em>TNR<\/em> (3 Dec 2013).<\/p>\n<p>Fredrik Logevall and Kenneth Osgood, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/291559253_The_ghost_of_Munich_America%27s_appeasement_complex\">The Ghost of Munich: America\u2019s Appeasement Complex<\/a>,\u201d <em>World Affairs Journal<\/em> (July \/ August 2010)<\/p>\n<p>Marisa Morrison, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/feature\/the-misappropriation-of-munich-1271\">The Misappropriation of Munich<\/a>,&#8221; <em>The National Interest<\/em> (3 Nov 2006)<\/p>\n<p>Jeffrey Record, <a href=\"https:\/\/press.armywarcollege.edu\/monographs\/736\"><em>Appeasement Reconsidered: Investigating the Mythology of the 1930s<\/em><\/a> (Carlisle PA: US Army War College, 2005) h<\/p>\n<p>Samuel Azubuike, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/249670292_To_Appease_or_to_Concede_Contrasting_Two_Modes_of_Accommodation_in_International_Conflict\">To Appease or to Concede? Contrasting Two Modes of Accommodation in International Conflict<\/a>,\u201d <em>International Relations,<\/em> Vol 20, No 1 (Mar 2006)<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Treisman, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/3877861\">Rational Appeasement<\/a>,\u201d <em>International Organization<\/em>, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Spring, 2004)<\/p>\n<p>Jeffrey Record, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/purl.fdlp.gov\/GPO\/LPS45877\">Perils of Reasoning by Historical Analogy: Munich, Vietnam, and American Use of Force since 1945<\/a>,<\/em> Occasional Paper No. 4 (Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Center for Strategy and Technology, Air University, March 1998) &#8211; PDF file<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-25694\" src=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/compass.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"448\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/compass.jpg 448w, https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/compass-250x203.jpg 250w, https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/compass-106x86.jpg 106w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>History does not teach lessons. Lessons are distilled at best, often selectively. The standard lesson of the 1938 Munich Agreement is that any compromise with aggression will lead to more aggression. But the danger of &#8220;conciliation&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10167552604075290_133638503385018":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13,3,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military-strategic-studies","category-publications","category-wars-and-military-operations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Contextualizing the \u201cLessons of Munich\u201d &#8211; Project on Defense Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contextualizing the \u201cLessons of Munich\u201d &#8211; Project on Defense Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"History does not teach lessons. Lessons are distilled at best, often selectively. The standard lesson of the 1938 Munich Agreement is that any compromise with aggression will lead to more aggression. But the danger of &#8220;conciliation&#8221;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Project on Defense Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Project-on-Defense-Alternatives\/133638503385018\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-11T18:53:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/compass.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"364\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carl Conetta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@defensealt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@defensealt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carl Conetta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"ScholarlyArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carl Conetta\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e5f32f920668cc51e114f8faf308f75b\"},\"headline\":\"Contextualizing the \u201cLessons of Munich\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-11T18:53:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":242,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/contextualizing-the-lessons-of-munich\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/compass.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military &amp; 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