is their estimate of how that war will be fought

是这场战争将如何打
and what the price of that war will be,

战争的代价
and what the chances of victory are;

以及胜利的机率
that's always in your mind.

这点要牢记
You're much less likely to go to war

明知自己将落得粉身碎骨
if you feel very confident you're going to get smashed,

就不要付诸战争
or that the cost of the war will be intolerable and so on.

否则战争的代价将难以承受
So, that was another issue.

这是另外一个问题了
There is a real link,

这里有一种确切的联系
in other words,

换句话说
between the strategy that the Spartans expected to be able to employ

也就是斯巴达期望采取的战略
and the policy that went with it.

和政策之间的联系