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What Jack Weatherford thinks about war

@jack-weatherford · 22 positions · 0 changes of mind

Anthropologist and author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, and DeWitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology emeritus at Macalester College.

Jack Weatherford did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

4 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Jack Weatherford has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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  1. Our readingGenghis Khan conquered the largest empire in history with an army that never exceeded about 110,000 men.

    Their wordsGenghis Khan's army was extremely good in warfare but small. He never got probably above 100,000, at the most 110,000. That is small.

    ↗Jack Weatherford: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire | Lex Fridman Podcast #476youtube.com 3rd of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingHiroshima and Nagasaki were not military targets — they were acts of terror against women and children, and Americans should say so before condemning the Mongols.

    Their wordsWe dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those were not military targets. We were not doing anything strategic against the country other than terrorizing the country by killing women and children.

    ↗Jack Weatherford: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire | Lex Fridman Podcast #476youtube.com 9th of 22 in this recording

    America

    Interesting

  5. Our readingA nation of a million people cannot rule hundreds of millions by warfare; the Mongol Empire lasted because it offered its subjects things they actually wanted.

    Their wordsIf you have a nation of 1 million people and you are ruling over hundreds of millions of people, hundreds of millions of people, China, Russia, the Middle East, you do not do that through warfare. You conquer them initially through warfare, but you do not rule them through warfare. You've got to be offering something that they want, something that they like.

    ↗Jack Weatherford: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire | Lex Fridman Podcast #476youtube.com 10th of 22 in this recording

    ChinaRussia

    Interesting

  7. Our readingGenghis Khan's army was the greatest military force in history, and no power will ever repeat what it did.

    Their wordsNo other power in the history of the world has conquered Russia and China and Persia and Central Asia and Turkey and Korea. No power in the world has done that. Not Alexander, not the Romans. Nobody will ever do it again.

    ↗Jack Weatherford: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire | Lex Fridman Podcast #476youtube.com 20th of 22 in this recording

    ChinaRussia

    Interesting