There is No Alternative to War
There is an average of twenty ongoing wars in the world at any given time. Some are internal civil wars, others are between nations. But the purpose of this thesis is not to report warfare, but the act of it. This includes the evolution of conventional and nuclear warfare, the potential effect of a nuclear war and why it is necessary for nations to fight war. This analysis will be based on a study of Gwyn dwyer's seven-part series, "War". The only other references used to compound this thesis will be statements from former heads of state, as corresponding to the subject of war.
War is an indispensable part of civilization an is found at every chapter of human history. It is the culmination of the basic survival instinct when provoked. In the early centuries, traditional warfare employed the use of hoplite soldiers and cavalry who met at a scheduled location and fought reciprocally. The seventeenth century changed the rules of warfare, beginning with Napoleon, who increased the scale of battle in the Baradino church in 1812. The French Revolution marked the rise of modern nationalism, with civilians volunteering to join the army. The concept of National Mobilization was introduced, but not effected until the American Civil war. The Industrial Revolution produced new weapons, such as the machine-gun and the tank. These weapons assured a greater scale of destruction than was formerly accomplished.
The two world wars marked the...
Since its declaration of independence from Great Britain, the United States has experienced wars of many different sorts. Each war introduced a new kind of warfare. The Revolutionary War introduced for the first time in American history, the idea of naval warfare. Ships were armed with dozens guns and carried several dozens of men. The musket, armed with its bayonet as well as the cannon proved to be worthy weaponry advancements in the infantry together with various pistols. The Civil War introduced the revolving pistol as well as the Gatling gun which enabled soldiers to produce rapid fire and destroy enemies in large quantities with a single round. New technological advancements in transportation such as the railroad, enabled large quantities of troops to travel to a given area in nearly half the amount of time. However, the turn of the twentieth introduced new technological advancements in the country as well as the military. This ignited a century of technological advancements in the military that has enabled the United States to excel in militaristic domination.
The purpose of this essay is to inform on the similarities and differences between systemic and domestic causes of war. According to World Politics by Jeffry Frieden, David Lake, and Kenneth Schultz, systemic causes deal with states that are unitary actors and their interactions with one another. It can deal with a state’s position within international organizations and also their relationships with other states. In contract, domestic causes of war pertain specifically to what goes on internally and factors within a state that may lead to war. Wars that occur between two or more states due to systemic and domestic causes are referred to as interstate wars.
Orend, Brian. "War." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, 28 July 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Levy, Jack S., and William R. Thompson. Causes of War. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.
For the great lesson which history imprints on the mind…is the tragic certainty that all wars gain their ultimate ends, whether great or petty, by the violation of personality, by the destruction of homes, by the paralysis of art and industry and letters…even wars entered on from high motives must rouse greed, cupidity, and blind hatred; that even in defensive warfare a people can defend its rights only by inflicting new wrongs; and that chivalrous no less than self-seeking war entails relentless destruction.
Williams, Charles F. "War Powers: A New Chapter in a Continuing Debate." Social Education. April 2003: 128-133. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 May. 2014.
War is a universal phenomenon, it is a violent tool people use to accomplish their interests. It is not autonomous, rather policy always determines its character. Normally it starts when diplomacy fails to reach a peaceful end. War is not an end rather than a mean to reach the end, however, it does not end, and it only rests in preparation for better conditions. It is a simple and dynamic act with difficult and unstable factors which make it unpredictable and complex. It is a resistant environment where the simplest act is difficult to perform. In this paper, I will argue why war is a universal phenomenon and what are the implications of my argument to strategists.
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” As depicted in the quote by Ernest Hemingway war is a difficult situation in which the traditional boundaries of moral ethics are tested. History is filled with unjust wars and for centuries war was not though in terms of morality. Saint Augustine, however, offered a theory detailing when war is morally permissible. The theory offers moral justifications for war as expressed in jus ad bellum (conditions for going to war) and in jus in bello (conditions within warfare).The theory places restrictions on the causes of war as well as the actions permitted throughout. Within early Christianity, the theory was used to validate crusades as morally permissible avoiding conflict with religious views. Based on the qualifications of the Just War Theory few wars have been deemed as morally acceptable, but none have notably met all the requirements. Throughout the paper I will apply Just War Theory in terms of World War II as well as other wars that depict the ideals presented by Saint Augustine.
Human nature will always corrupt the mind of modern man and send him down the destructive path of war. Due to this, the chronology of war is a constant stream of events that have dated back to the creation of civilization. The inevitability of it is based off something within the mind, that we call human nature. This phoneme pulls the attentions of man towards the path of greatest gain in the quickest amount of time. A part of this is due to mans greed to obtain as much power as possible. Power doesn’t hold one meaning however, it can be broken down into many aspects of appeal for man, creating even more of attraction. Whether the individual in control is seeking power through wealth, through control, or dominance their means of obtaining it includes war or destruction.
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
Clausewitz's On War, first published in 1832, until now remains one of the most influential studies in understanding character, nature and conditions of warfare. In his book Clausewitz not only traced an interaction of intension and planning with the realities of combat, but by exploring the relationship of war to policy, politics and society gave a new philosophical justification to the art of war. (Heuser, 2002)
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a constant battle between death and love.
Carl von Clausewitz, “What is War?” On War. Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret, 89-112. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976.
Humans have engaged in war for thousands of years. The earliest recorded instance is circa 2700 BCE. Of course, the fighting extends much further back as this was near the advent of writing. Even Confucius observed "... war checks population growth" speaking in relation to what problems overcrowding would institute (Neurath 6). Tertullian, a Christian author circa 200 CE stated "...pestilence, famine, wars and earthquakes have come to be regarded as a blessing to overcrowded nations, since they serve to prune away at the luxuriant growth of the human race" (8). These two statements, separated by almost 700 years and a vast distance coincide on one major point: that war is a useful tool to govern overpopulation. The ramifications of overpopulation are so great, that it is being reported in multiple news agencies that a "Sixth Extinction" is underway, caused solely by the human's enthusiastic attempts at procreation and manipulation of Earth (Eldredge). In fact, just as population grows exponentially, so did the deaths resulting from war; a trend that continued up until the end of World War II, after which worldwide deaths from war decline dramatically and rest at around one million per ye...
All living things need the resources provided by our natural world to live, leading to them adapting to specific environments. Animals in particular are mobile creatures that move from place to place searching for the best environments for their survival. The most intelligent creatures in our animal world are human beings and like other animals, they moved from place to place while organized into races in search of the elusive desirable environments. However, there is always the likelihood of finding fellow humanity already thriving in that environment. This resulted to conflict as competition for the inadequate resources arose. Consequently, human beings formed nations, allegiance to the national system meant loyalty to the governance, and regions and they formed military groups to defend their resources. However, the military warfare has changed with international understanding, though the idea still rests heavily on fight for resources. Further, international politics illustrates the causes and effects of modern military war have changed due to chan...