No, history does not repeat itself. Certainly not in detail. But it does repeat many principles and trends, often closely enough that the outcome of a given action can be predicted with considerable accuracy.

I've just dug out a book that I read some time back and I'm rereading it. I recommend it to any and all. The March of Folly, by historian Barbara Tuchman. One of the premises of this book is that the acquisition of power often seems to carry a concomitant loss of intellectual capacity. One of the manifestations of this is the incidence of self-destructive behavior on the part of national leaders—not just destructive to the leader himself or herself, but to the nation or region as a whole. This self-destructive behavior is not just seen in retrospect, it is obvious to many contemporaries who warn the leader of the inevitable consequences of their actions and often try to prevent them. The intractable leader arrogantly plunges on and the predicted negative results do indeed come to pass, to the detriment of the leader and to the nation.

Once again, I emphasize that there are contemporaries close to the leader who see the consequences clearly and warn or try to stop the leader, but the leader goes ahead and does it anyway.

History is rife with examples, some of which Barbara Tuchman details in her book.

And the beat goes on.

This book makes edifying reading.

Don Firth