RALEIGH — In war, alliances often prove decisive. But as Sun Tzu observed nearly 2,500 years ago, allies can often be more trouble than they are worth. “We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes,” the Chinese general wrote in his Art of War, “until we are acquainted with their designs.”
In other words, it is perilous to assume that the interests and goals of potential allies are entirely consonant with your own. The British empire learned this lesson during the American War of Independence. At first, they figured they’d subdue the unruly New Englanders before other American colonists could come to their aid. They figured wrong.
By early 1776, British officials had devised a different strategy. They would send a large force south, where multitudes of Loyalists would flock to their banner and take the Carolinas, Georgia, and eventually Virginia off the board. Then they would capture the bustling port cities of New York and Philadelphia, leaving the American rebels with few options other than indecisive insurgency or abject surrender…