States Need To Wage War In Order example essay topic

Warfare has always wedged its way into society giving us a rather broad paradigm that warfare is indeed an unavoidable aspect of human society. To explain this concept, we must first view an arising question of how war occurs. If we can find the source of war, we could even possibly root it out of existence. In Raymond Keeyle's War Before Civilization, we learn that there are two major anthropologic sides to the recurring question: "What causes war?" One of the two sides is the Hobbesian realist view that war is essentially unavoidable due to an anarchic system lacking any central authority. The opposing Rosseauian view claims that war happens when the need to gain materially from another arises. The Semai of the Malaysian mountains and the Kung of Southern Africa challenge the necessity of war altogether.

Both of these tribes are famous for their peaceful nature and have not engaged in war. The Rosseauian view might see the tribes as peaceful due to their isolation from society. They might go farther to say that these two tribes are not warlike because their isolation causes them to be self dependent and not have to rely on other tribal groups to obtain natural resources. The Hobbesian interpretation of the Semai and the Kung would most probably be that the tribes' isolation causes a withdraw from the societal anarchy around them. I personally believe that the citations of peaceful tribes elucidate the fact that war is not part of human nature's necessity to go to war.

I believe that certain societies integrate the justifications and moral exceptions through their educational process. This is demonstrated even today by neutral countries such as Sweden and Switzerland. Obviously, character in the society is learned and passed down, not necessarily inherent through genetics as a classic realist such as Thomas Hobbes might have thought. I do, however, agree with Rousseau's theory that warfare occurs when there is material possession to be gained. This has been shown throughout the course of history including one of Japan's motives to wage war against the United States in order to be unobstructed in gaining a new source of fossil fuels. I believe that the two isolated tribes are most likely self dependent and do not need to seek material possessions.

I also think that these tribes have integrated peace rather than war through their educational systems. The reason for recurring warfare in today's society is most likely due to state's needs to develop their economy to compete with the rest of the world. This development is caused through trade and increased integration of states which can cause detrimental effects such as imperialism and aggression in order to obtain materials and wealth. Thus saying, war is not necessarily inevitable.

It becomes inevitable however, when the states need to wage war in order to compete and obtain material gains for the benefit and interest of the state itself. Warfare is probably a human universal comparable to that of marriage, music etc. because there has always been the need at least somewhere in the society for material gain.