Machiavellian Mirror

Niccolo Machiavelli once posed the question: "Is it better to be feared or respected?" And in today's society, one cannot help but notice that President Obama is an equal balance of both attributes.

During a speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Obama demonstrates Machiavellian idioms of gaining and maintaining power. He is considered merciful by the public, regardless of his nature; he inspires fear in a way that if he’s involved that he may not be hated. He reminds the public, and the world, their reason for being in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2001, a group of men hijacked four commercial airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Centers—killing thousands. As the public knows, the men belong to al Qaeda—a group of extremists whose base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harboured by the Taliban.
The Taliban are a prime example of Machiavellian theories on the matter of gaining control over a state. As soon as the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was over, the Taliban seized control by force—since it is “easier to control a hereditary state than a new state”—as Machiavelli writes: Three methods to keep an acquired state are

i. Destroy it
ii. Reside in it
iii. Suffer by living under its own original laws and governments.
As stated in Chapter V of The Prince:

"But when cities or countries are accustomed to live under a prince, and
his family is exterminated, they, being on the one hand accustomed to
obey and on the other hand not having the old prince, cannot agree in
making one from amongst themselves, and they do not know how to govern
themselves. For this reason they are very slow to take up arms, and a
prince can gain them to himself and secure them much more easily. But
in republics there is more vitality, greater hatred, and more desire
for vengeance, which will never permit them to allow the memory of their
former liberty to rest; so that the safest way is to destroy them or to
reside there."

The Taliban became ‘rulers’ by

“wickedness and crime or by favour of the citizens.”

The Taliban keep the people of Afghanistan living in fear and submission—in accordance with Machiavelli’s question posed more than 450 years ago:

“Is it better to be feared or respected?”

The President demonstrates other Prince-ly qualities such as: appearing to keep faith, living uprightly and not craftily; he appears merciful, faithful, humane, religious and upright, but he is also ready to change to the century. He maintains his authority and is therefore judged honourably. Obama displays the five main qualities of a Prince: mercy (towards his enemies), good faith (with the public and the world), humanity (towards those who are wicked), and religion (he does not criticize Islam, nor does he explicitly state which religion is the ‘right’ one, Christianity or Islam) though he does justify Islam as

“one of the world’s greatest religions”

—demonstrating humility towards all those who are different.
Though Obama does not quote Machiavelli outright, many obvious connections can be made with Machiavelli.

In today’s politics in which the philosopher’s influence has outlasted his own life, one cannot help but question the amorality of politics—Machiavelli did not say one must be good or must be bad, but merely to utilize one’s power when necessary.