Causes of Wars, Essay Example

Wars have always resulted in great damages to society and the people living in a given region. With wars, human beings have to lose their lives while others are injured. Some have even ended being traumatized because of what they have experienced or seen during the war. Therefore, the need for peace has been given much priority by many governments and nations across the globe. In order to avoid the outbreak of wars, it would be inevitable for one to understand the root causes of war (Carr 894).

Causes of war around the world are very many and vary from region to region. However, the main causes of wars in the world include Racism, The extremes of Poverty and Wealth, Unbridled Nationalism, imperialism, and Religious Strife among others. A number of researchers and experts have developed models trying to explain the causes of war (Betts 310). From all these options give some of the causes of war, I find imperialism and the extremes of poverty as the main causes of war (Waltz 122 (b); Doyle 1157).

There is a direct and direct relation between the extremes of poverty and the vulnerability of a country getting into war. From a sociological perspective, a human being would always strive to make ends meet and deal with his basic wants (Rosecrance 22). It is after dealing with basic wants that they would further seek to meet the secondary and tertiary wants. However, when one fails to meet the basic wants, they are left in apposition where they have to do all they can to survive. This makes people to take violence as an alternative to getting a means for leaving (Elshtain 11). As the levels of violence increase in a country or a region, it is much easier for that community or country to get into a war. Hallett (1967) is in agreement with Rosecrance on extremes and poverty as a trigger for war. In his submission, Hallett submits that realism would dictate that force and violence beco9mes the last option for conflict resolution. However, in extreme circumstances such as poverty and inability to deal with basic wants, violence would be given greater consideration. Based on the slippery slope theory, increased violence could result into war.

Extremes of poverty can also expose a nation or a group to a situation where they resort to war a way of dealing with the existing challenges. This is possible in a country where the gap between the rich and the poor is so high. Supported by Karl Marx’s conflict theory, great differences in economic status of the poor and the rich would always result in a conflict. As the poor and the rich get into conflict, the poor would take force and violence as an alternative to bettering their economic status (Gat 154). Effectively, if chance avails, the poor would not hesitate in getting into war as a response to their predicament. Marx’s, theory on conflict is further supported by Wright Mills take on conflict and its effects. For Mills, social structures are only created through conflict. Effectively, war and the threat of war would always make different societies to have their structures developed.

Imperialism has also been a major cause for war across the globe. Historically, it is quite clear that many of the major wars across the globe were because of imperialism and the desire of a nation to rule over the other. When a nation felt that it was superior and wanted to spread its philosophy to the rest of the nations or society, it used all possible mechanisms to achieve this (Mueller (326). When other mechanisms are not working for this course, the use of force may be administered, opening up an opportunity for war to crop in. For instance, during the first and the second World Wars, Germany and her allies were determined to control the world (Lawler 86: Waltz 620 (a). Doyle argues that when a leader wants to stamp their authority and portray their might, any forces that go against this course may be a source of conflict. Where no leader wants to take the humble pie and submit, the chances of getting into war are high. This was through developing policies that would subject other nations to their command. When resistance ensued, use of force was inevitable and so World Wars I and II were born.

Works Cited

Betts, Richard. Military Readiness: Concepts, Choices, Consequences, Brookings Institution Press, 1995, pp. 307-454

Carr, Hallett. The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919-1939: “Realism and Idealism” Journal of Politics, 24 (4), 1967, p. 861-921

Doyle Michael, Liberalism and World Politics, American Political Science Review, (Dec. 1986): pp. 1151-69

Elshtain, Jean B. “Just War and Humanitarian Intervention,” Ideas, Vol. 8, No. 2 (2001), pp. 2-21.

Gat, Azar. “Is War Declining—And Why?,” Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 50, No. 2 (March 2013), pp. 149-157.

Lawler, Peter “Peace Studies,” in: Paul D. Williams (ed.), Security Studies: An Introduction (Routledge, 2008), pp. 73-88.

Mueller, John. “The Obsolescence of Major War,” Security Dialogue, 21:3 (1990), pp. 321–328

Rosecrance, Richard. The Rise of the Trading State: Commerce and Conquest in the Modern World (New York: Basic Books, 1986), pp. 15–28

Waltz, Kenneth N (a). “The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Spring 1988), pp. 615-628.

Waltz, Kenneth N (b). Man, the State, and War (Columbia University Press, 1959), pp. 75-340