The Necessity of War
International Relations
Is War Necessary for Peace?
As society progresses, humans have started to question whether or not war is necessary or can ever be justified. The view held by most people post-World War II seems to be that war is needed and morally justifiable when it is waged as a response to injustice and as an attempt to bring peace to an area. This way of thinking suggests that the ends justify the means. However, this raises the question of whether we can have peace without having to resort to war or if we have no other choice but to use violence and destruction to suppress more violence and destruction. In short, is the use of war necessary to bring peace? People have responded to these questions in different ways. Some like Gandhi, Martin King Luther and John Lennon (to name a few) take a pacifist approach and believe that war is wrong no matter what the reason behind it is. According to them, the killing of human beings should always be avoided even if the end result is peace and the betterment of humanity. For them, the ends do not justify the means. They believe peace can be attained through non-violent methods like passive resistance instead of through war. Others take a more realistic approach. They bring up the example of Hitler and Nazi Germany and say that the optimism of pacifists would never have held up against such a brutal regime. Indeed, when we look back on it, war seems to have been the best solution for dealing with the Nazis. Most people would agree that, while war is a terrible phenomenon, sometimes we have no other choice but to use force to stop people from doing terrible things to each other. However, in my opinion the question of whether or not war can bring peace is a question wrongly asked. Its answer depends on what our definition of peace is. The definition of peace is not simply the absence of war or hostility but rather the desire to work harmoniously together with the people around us in order to live a life of
Is War Necessary for Peace?
As society progresses, humans have started to question whether or not war is necessary or can ever be justified. The view held by most people post-World War II seems to be that war is needed and morally justifiable when it is waged as a response to injustice and as an attempt to bring peace to an area. This way of thinking suggests that the ends justify the means. However, this raises the question of whether we can have peace without having to resort to war or if we have no other choice but to use violence and destruction to suppress more violence and destruction. In short, is the use of war necessary to bring peace? People have responded to these questions in different ways. Some like Gandhi, Martin King Luther and John Lennon (to name a few) take a pacifist approach and believe that war is wrong no matter what the reason behind it is. According to them, the killing of human beings should always be avoided even if the end result is peace and the betterment of humanity. For them, the ends do not justify the means. They believe peace can be attained through non-violent methods like passive resistance instead of through war. Others take a more realistic approach. They bring up the example of Hitler and Nazi Germany and say that the optimism of pacifists would never have held up against such a brutal regime. Indeed, when we look back on it, war seems to have been the best solution for dealing with the Nazis. Most people would agree that, while war is a terrible phenomenon, sometimes we have no other choice but to use force to stop people from doing terrible things to each other. However, in my opinion the question of whether or not war can bring peace is a question wrongly asked. Its answer depends on what our definition of peace is. The definition of peace is not simply the absence of war or hostility but rather the desire to work harmoniously together with the people around us in order to live a life of