What are the leading causes of international war and how can they be avoided?

Tamilakhon Khaydarova.

 

What are the leading causes of international war and how can they be avoided?

The history of humanity is a reflection of armed conflicts between nations or conflicting political communities. The analysis of war could be divided into philosophical, political, economic, technological, legal, sociological, and psychological categories.

Some scholars argue that war is a phenomenon of organized collective violence that affects either the relations between two or more societies or the power relations within a society.^[1] The other group asserts that in a common sense, it is a conflict between political groups involving hostilities of considerable duration and magnitude.^[2]

The scholars who research and analyze the concepts and techniques of modern psychology emphasize that the major causes of war can be found in man’s psychological nature.^[3] The human psychology lies behind the struggle for world domination, contrasting national interests, fear of the influence of a certain state, theories of racial superiority, terrorist acts, economic and political contradictions, and even personal “hostility” of heads of state. Thus, the underlying causes of wars are derived from the “human nature”.

Some of the researchers of the World War II and its political, economic and social outcomes assert that “Wars result from selfishness, from misdirected aggressive impulses, from stupidity. Other causes are secondary…”^[4] The World War II in its scale and destructiveness, surpassed all the wars of the past, such as the Wars of Tamerlane (1370-1405), the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), the World War I (1914-1918).

The main reasons for all these were the contradictions between the Great Powers that won the World War I and the defeated Germany, which, as the losing side, was forced to accept the unbearable conditions of the Versailles Peace Treaty. Other factors include the theories of racial superiority of Hitlerite Germany and Japanese militarism, which sought world domination, to expand their territories, to conquer markets and natural resources; the global economic crisis that began in 1929; imperfection of international relations (ignoring the interests of other countries, the removal of Russia from affairs concerning solutions to issues related to world politics).

The victory in the World War II was achieved by the joint efforts of the alliance of states and peoples of the Anti-Hitler coalition. 

To prevent similar wars in the future, on June 26, 1945, the leaders of 50 countries signed the UN Charter. Thus, the slow decay of the colonial system has started.^[5]

International practice proves that it is almost impossible to exclude wars between countries. But it is possible to prevent the war in the case of the superiority of the force of means over the enemy, the right strategy, resilience, as it was the case in the times of the World War II. In fact, war remains possible as long as individual states seek to ensure self-preservation and promote their individual interests and-in the absence of a reliable international agency to control the actions of other states-rely on their own efforts.^[6]

The usual strategies suggested by political scientists and international relations experts to prevent war include arms control and diplomacy, that will always remain essential strategies to prevent war, especially in the nuclear age when humanity is only minutes away from possible destruction.^[7]

All in all, some of the people’s inner uncontrollable desires could lead to breach of peace. Clausewitz very well highlighted that: “War is an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.”^[8]

 

References:

[1] https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/war/

[2] https://www.britannica.com/topic/war

[3] https://www.britannica.com/topic/war/The-causes-of-war

[4] Kenneth N. Waltz. Man, the state, and war: a theoretical analysis /New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. pp.16

[5] https://www.rubaltic.ru/article/kultura-i-istoriya/22032020-vtoraya-mirovaya-voyna/

[6] https://www.britannica.com/topic/war/The-control-of-war

[7] https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/16-4-preventing-war-and-stopping-terrorism/

[8] Carl Von Clausewitz. On War/New Jersey: Princeton University Press,1984. pp.75

 

Bibliography.

Books:

1. Carl Von Clausewitz. On War. New Jersey: Princeton University Press,1984.
2. Jeffrey M. Eliot, Robert Reginald. The arms control, disarmament, and military security dictionary. ABC-Clio, 1989.
3. Kenneth N. Waltz. Man, the state, and war: a theoretical analysis. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
4. Kolosov, E.S. Krivchikov. Current international law. In 3 volumes. Moscow: Publishing House of the Moscow Independent Institute of International Law, 1999.
5. Walter S. Jones. The logic of International Relations. Seventh edition. Long Island University. HarperCollinsPublishers,1991.

Webpages:

1. 16.4 Preventing War and Stopping Terrorism. [https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/16-4-preventing-war-and-stopping-terrorism/]
2. The causes of war [https://www.britannica.com/topic/war/The-causes-of-war] 
3. The control of war [https://www.britannica.com/topic/war/The-control-of-war] 
4. The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law. [https://guide-humanitarianlaw.org/content/article/3/war/] 
5. War [https://www.britannica.com/topic/war] 
6. World War II 1939–1945: causes, course of events, results. [https://www.rubaltic.ru/article/kultura-i-istoriya/22032020-vtoraya-mirovaya-voyna/]