Derbyshire rightly goes to the source to criticize Stanley Kurtz’s enthusiasm for signing up foreign troops:
The youth of fifth-century Italy, said Gibbon, “trembled at the sound of the trumpet.” To keep the armies manned, the later Roman emperors therefore hired in Germans. Look what happened. Same with the 9th and 10th-century Arab Caliphs, though they insourced Turks instead of Germans. Same result.
Or one could look at the Ottoman Turks and their experience with their Janissaries. Once a nation’s government becomes dependent upon foreign soldiers, it is only a matter of time before the foreign soldiers begin to rule over the nation.
If American women hadn’t slaughtered millions of American children or if America’s leaders were willing to abide by George Washington’s advice to avoid foreign entanglements, this would not be an issue. But it is, and it seems clear that the political elite is determined to walk the old path of Empire.
At least those who are historically literate have the advantage of knowing how the story ends. I’m primarily curious to know if the increased pace of modern society will have an effect on the time frame or not. America isn’t about to collapse, to the contrary, history suggests that it’s approaching an expansionary phase that will be accompanied by increasingly authoritarian rule.