“Note that Mormon views the conflict between the Nephites and Lamanites from a spiritual context. There is no mention here of the superior military strength of the Lamanites as a reason for their advantage in battle, but it comes from the dissensions among the Nephites.” (K. Douglas Bassett, Alma, the Testimony of the Word [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992], 292 - 293.)
Hugh Nibley
“So it was a blessing to the Nephites after all to have the Lamanites on their doorstep to stir them up to remembrance…No matter how wicked and ferocious and depraved the Lamanites might be (and they were that!), no matter by how much they outnumbered the Nephites,…they were not the Nephite problem. They were merely kept there to remind the Nephites of their real problem, which was to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (Since Cumorah, p. 376 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 358)