In today’s lecture, Prof Omar Farouk was discussing about the world wars, peacekeeping, and the achievements that the United Nations has achieved as well as the missions they failed to achieve. We have been given a paper which is written a set of questions about war, peace and the United Nations. As written above in my topic, I would like to discuss the first question which was if war is avoidable and if permanent peace is achievable. In my opinion, war is inevitable and the possibility of achieving a permanent peace is unlikely. The big question here is why do nations go to war? There are many reasons that lead a country to wage a war on another one. But there is a main reason that other intentions or motives are derived from which is the fact that nations go to war because it is a basic human impulse to want what you don’t have. There’s a limited amount of stuff on this planet, and we want as much of it as we can.
Firstly, the need for the expansion of land is a common reason as to why countries fight. The crusades were a good example of this because even though they started out a holy war, they converted into wars that focused on expanding borders. Secondly, the intention of taking revenge is another reason which causes two nations to wage war against each other. At some point in the past, the stronger of the two nations might have done something to the other country. Years later, the latter nation gets power and goes for revenge, and this continues unless the two countries sign a peace agreement or the international community intervenes. Germany, for example, wanted to take revenge on the rest of the European nations after they all unanimously agreed that the responsibility for the First World War should be laid upon Germany. Thirdly and more importantly, religion is another factor that causes misunderstanding and war between different societies who belong to different religions. When a nation goes into war, everyone knows its consequences. Whether that particular nation wins or loses the war, there will be losses of lives, demolition of infrastructure, economic instability, reduced military power, and negative socio-cultural effects. Whatever the cause or the reason for the war is, the above consequences are unavoidable.
Is permanent peace achievable? It has been said that all nations are either preparing for war, at war or recovering from war. Remember that war is not always between two or more nations, it can be between a nation and its people. Paradoxically, men go to war in search for peace. For example, the citizens of a country who are suffering from oppression and lack of peace might go for war against their nation to achieve political and social reform so as to bring peace. If the war between two countries prolongs, the outcome is truce. However, this always fails to yield permanent peace. This is because men cannot, and never will, find the way to peace on their own. Why? Because war maintains equilibrium in this universe!