1. Summary
A.J.P. Taylor gave an interesting take on the cause of war,
seeing it akin to a traffic accident, where certain conditions and situations
make them more likely to occur, but it is hard to predict accurately when it
will happen. Although interesting, this view is often criticised, as war begins
on a conscious decision.
Analysis on gender psychology also provides clues to why war
starts. Some psychologists view war as an outlet for men’s inherent violence.
Peace is then just considered as “war preparation time”, and the cycle of war
and pre-war repeats itself.
Anthropologists on the other hand, view war as nuture
instead of nature, as something that is inculcated through religion and
ideologies. This then leads to another issue with Social Stratification, where
the people in power work to maintain this system of war justification to keep
themselves in power.
One new approach to finding out the cause of war is through
an analysis of information. The theory is that with the proper access to information,
countries would not go into war knowing that they will lose anyway. Conflicts
would then be resolved without the meaningless act of violence.
Marxist Conflict Theory sees war as a development of class
war, the conflict between the ruling class and the proletariat. As a whole,
conflict theory sees individuals and groups fighting for ever-larger shares of
the limited resources available on Earth. However much Conflict theory seems to
make sense, there are actually a few assumptions that have to be acknowledged
before Conflict theory can be used to study the world.
Firstly, human interaction will definitely result in
conflict, and through this inevitable process, change occurs in society. The
reason for conflict is that of competition for scarce resources rather than
consensus to only have what one needs. As a result of this conflict,
hierarchies in society arise, where possession of more resources gives one more
power. And finally, the only way for large changes in the system to occur is
through revolution and not adaptation, like that of evolutionary theory.
The very first signs of Conflict Theory emerged in China and
Greece, but were formalized in the 19th – 20th century,
with Karl Marx being regarded as the father of conflict theory. He was a German philosopher, sociologist,
historian, political economist, theorist and a revolutionary socialist. His
theory of Marxism played a large role in the development of social science and
socialism.
Conflict Theory manifests itself in many aspects of our
current world. Social Stratification is a result of conflict between the upper
and lower classes, and is prevalent due to the amount of power the upper class
possess, allowing them to continue controlling the lower class. The presence of
Social Stratification also means the presence of power and wealth inequality.
This not only means that the poor have fewer possessions and less power than
the rich, but also that they have little to no access to the benefits of
society, including healthcare and education. They are not provided with the
means to break out of their poverty. As a result, many resort to crime, which
brings us to yet another way that the upper class exerts power over the lower
class. The justice system seems biased agaisnt crime that is often committed by
the lower class, such as drug abuse and violent crime. More leniencies are
given to upper class offences like financial and business crime.
2. Something of interest to me
I think that regardless of how academics want to view war,
it all boils down to the fight for resources. I do acknowledge that in the past
where power was usually concentrated on one person, war could be started on a
whim without a reason beyond just victory over another person. However, in
current times, where countries seek to grow larger economies and probably
territory, resources are becoming more and more limited. I think there is
enough reason to say that even with the idea of Conflict Theory, there will
always be an undercurrent of economically driven war. No matter whether you are
upper or lower class, coming out victorious in a war will probably benefit you.
3. Discussion point
War seems to be something that will always be present in the
world, but as the world develops, warfare may develop along with it. There is talk
of war evolving from being physical to virtual, where the battle can be fought
with robots instead of humans, or even just computer to computer. In the age of
Information, information itself can be used as weapons agaisnt your opponent,
and could prove even more destructive and crippling than brute force. However,
I question whether humans can truly keep their distance from violent acts of
war or terrorism (ISIS) in this day and age, or is the thirst for bloodshed
already so ingrained in our minds that no amount of technology can keep it out?
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