As our soldiers penetrate the heart of Taliban territory in South Waziristan, they displace both innocent civilians and their targets themselves. If reports are to be believed, a cocktail of Uzbek, Arab, and Pashtuns have been holding down the fort there. The army, with its relatively more sophisticated weaponry, aerodynamically designed chappals, and larger numbers, remains a favourite to overwhelm the enemy, even in the face of mounting casualties. But can militancy be eliminated through brute force?

The recent spate of suicide attacks, especially those in Peshawar, leads one to believe the task isn’t as simple as conquering a piece of land and driving away its inhabitants. The backlash across Pakistan could be a sign of desperation on the part of the Taliban, or just the nature of the beast, guerilla warfare.

I decided to analyze the current situation using the experiences of one of the most famous figures in history, a man who is more Pakistani than most of us are aware. After all, his conquests led him to all four provinces of modern-day Pakistan and gave him an insight into the perplexing nature of the natives. This man, contrary to Afghan, Baloch, and Pashtun claims to the contrary, subdued and conquered all these peoples. He commands legend that lives on in folklore from Central Asia to Egypt, from Macedonia to Persia. This man is none other than Alexander the Great.

Throughout his expeditions, Alexander faced a plethora of challenges. He swept across Persia, exhibiting a nerve that few throughout the annals of history have managed along with a reverence for the gods that endeared him to Greek and Egyptian alike. By defeating Darius, the Lord of the World, at Issus and then decisively at Gaugamela, Alexander devoured the greatest army in the world. At the age of 25, he walked unopposed into the great palace of Persepolis and assumed Darius’s throne. Despite the animosity between Persian and Greek, he did not experience guerilla warfare until he reached the modern-day equivalent of northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. These skilled Sogdians and Bactrians used the ‘hit and run’ method in heavily forested terrain to wipe out a whole Macedonian regiment.

Having adopted the Persian title of Shahenshah (King of Kings) by now, Alexander used both military and diplomatic genius to overcome what seemed like an impossible task. Much like our army has split up its men to attack strategic areas from multiple angles while retaining an element of surprise, Alexander split up his army into five mobile units and managed to corner the remaining Sogdian rebels on the top of a mountain ridge.

This is where the Sogdians taunted him, ‘Find yourself soldiers with wings if you want to defeat us.’ By the next morning, the Sogdians found 300 men above their position in a powerful symbolic gesture. The Sogdians could still have routed those men, but Alexander had won their respect. He followed this up with his famed marriage to Roxan, creating an alliance to complement the respect he had earned. Perhaps it was the wisdom of the greatest military mind of all time that instigated him to stay on good terms with these people through diplomacy and kinship, despite the obvious dismay of his Greek generals.

Once he entered present-day Pakistan, Alexander surpassed even Hercules by conquering PirSar (Aornos to the Greeks) in Swat, where the Aspasioi of Swat and Buner valleys took refuge. PirSar was thought to be impregnable by the locals as well as the Greeks, as according to legend, Hercules had failed to take it during one of his labours. Looking out at the roof of the world, surely Alexander must have realised that the world was a far bigger place than he had ever imagined. According to his tutor, Aristotle, India was at the end of the world, and in the great philosopher’s estimation, India wasn’t much larger than modern-day Pakistan.

While Alexander had only allowed smaller rulers to keep their positions in the past, he changed his strategy in the Punjab. He defeated the Hindu Raja Porus and his war elephants after crossing the Jhelum River stealthily by night. However, instead of assuming leadership himself, Alexander created an alliance with Porus and appointed him satrap of his own kingdom.

This is where the story gets even more interesting. Alexander’s great conquest finally came to a halt after he received bad omens about the prospective invasion of India beyond the river Biyas and also faced army dissent. Now, his army traveled down the Indus on specially made boats. Everywhere they went, they met with fierce resistance, something Alexander had not encountered anywhere else. Perplexed and tired, Alexander dealt out many atrocities on his journey through the Indus delta, as the historians Arrian and Curtius recount.

One city to experience the unbridled wrath of the Macedonians was Multan. Here, Alexander bravely entered the fort along with only three companions against a sea of locals. An arrow famously pierced his lung there and, in their outrage, his soldiers massacred everyone in the city.

Finally, instructing a portion of his army to leave by sea for Persia, Alexander led his army across the Pakistani coast, through Balochistan’s inhospitable Makran region, and back to Persepolis, a journey that cost him three-quarters of his army. It is here that a soldier brought Alexander a helmet filled with water when there was none for miles. Instead of replenishing his thirst, he spilled the water on the burning sands to assure his soldiers that he would not drink if they could not.

Over 2,300 years have passed since then. Arabs, Mongols, and Turks have all come through modern-day Pakistan. We have come a long way from Alexander’s time, yet we still encounter similar battles today: the same pride among local strongholds, the same ‘hit and run’ mentality, even within the tactics of suicide bombing. The similarities are obvious. For the most part, the Taliban are even the ethnic descendants of those same Bactrians and Sogdrians that Alexander had to fight.

But our army faces a more difficult task than Alexander’s did. We can’t face the enemy head on; it is a monster without a face. It is also a monster that is swayed by nationalistic, ethnic, and religious considerations. Yet, we remain intent on a military solution. The time has come to learn from one of the greatest military rulers this world has known. At times, he had to opt for diplomacy, at time he had to strike partnerships with those he conquered, and at still other times, he had to deal a mighty military blow against those who resisted him. Perhaps those still teaching Alexander’s outflanking maneuvers and resilience in our military academies will take notice before we are forced to find soldiers with wings, for we have none.