Is war the solution for peace?
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I need some help from the forumnites here. I've got a bit of homework that I need to work on and I have no idea how to go about.
Okay, we picked one heck of a hard topic to write about our argumentative essay. Currently, we are supposed to find short articles that relates to the topic, "Is war the solution for peace?" Up til now, after crawling cyberspace for weeks, I haven't found anything argumentative that speaks of the co-relation of war and peace.
Any of you have any good readings, or can provide me some views on this subject?
I welcome views from both sides of the fence. -
Hi Shotgun is this a GP essay or a presentation?
Ok 1 tip for essays sadly is to choose the politically correct answer. That is if you want to score high. Many teachers are conformists who do not readily accept other views or even if they do are afraid of stirring up controversy. For normal topics we can give views from both sides of the coin but this is a sensitive topic as inevitably you will have to cite real life examples like the Middle East conflicts.
Thus you should argue from the point that war is never the solution for peace and keep to that point.
Cheers man...
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Maybe you could try this line, for lasting peace one must be prepare for war, i.e. deterrance.
Another is the MAD situation,so far there is no war between 2 nuclear states. -
World War 2 is a fine example. The Bosnian War too. They make good references.
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The solution for peace is prosperity for all sides. Have comprehensive and well balanced trade on all sides. That will give everyone prosperity and too much to lose if they resort to war to settle their differences.
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Its for a presentation.
I think its quite a challenge to propose that war is a solution for peace in fact. I've kinda already laid out my plans for such a notion, but I need some articles that either say otherwise, or proposes it also.
Any sites that may have think tanks that put up their view? -
shouldnt it be the other way round?
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Oh so true.....oh so trueOriginally posted by Delta 5:Hi Shotgun is this a GP essay or a presentation?
Ok 1 tip for essays sadly is to choose the politically correct answer. That is if you want to score high. Many teachers are conformists who do not readily accept other views or even if they do are afraid of stirring up controversy. For normal topics we can give views from both sides of the coin but this is a sensitive topic as inevitably you will have to cite real life examples like the Middle East conflicts.
Thus you should argue from the point that war is never the solution for peace and keep to that point.
Cheers man...
Then again i guess MAD is a good way of putting it. Or maybe you can write how peace will never be accomplished by looking at the flaws in Communisum as practised. -
throughout the history of mankind, in all continents, wars were fought for territorial gains, for control of resources, for political reasons, for ideology, for religious faith, for freedom and protection and for some of the above reasons combined. Wars were never fought to bring peace.
Often war bring only temporary peace when the warring countries run out of means to fight and peace is broken soon as a country feel that they are strong. e.g. the germans in WW1 followed by WW2, the communists in north vietnam and north korea.
The only countries that can avoid wars are those who are strong against a strong adversaries, e.g. USA and USSR in the cold war, south korea against the north, israel against the arabs, even taiwan against china.
Peace is achieved by our ability to prevent a war, never by starting a war. -
I have an idea, why don't i just argue my case here and then use some of your replies as reference articles. hahaha.
Sometimes, man forgets how precious peace is until its gone. When peace is taken for granted, the society breaks down as people forget some of the values that were highly regarded in war. Values such as loyalty, honor, and courage. The onset of Peace I feel is often the onset of decadence to such values. That is when society corrupts itself, reflected by rise in crime rate. <--- last sentence a smoke grenade
Wouldn't such temporary peace at least remind us that we have to hold other values above selfish desires?
Examples of military organizations. Institutions of violence and destruction. Yet they hold values such as loyalty, honor and courage above many organizations in peace-time society.
The writer Thomas Mann once wrote, "Is not peace an element of civil corruption and war a purification, a liberation, an enormous hope?"
Is the current peace, the type that will last? Or would it simply decay itself into another war given enough time. A war that would perhaps be more violent and more brutal, resulting in more bloodshed. Is appeasement always the policy? Don't you think multiple-small-scaled conflicts and skirmishes might actually ease tensions and perhaps alter the course of the future to avoid larger conflicts?
I suggest that if the allies, had taken Nazi-Germany' more seriously when she breached the Treaty of Versailles, the 2nd World War might not come about. It was because the Allies chose not to take direct action, that resulted in the growth of Nazi-Germany's ambitions. And if the Allies had not conceded Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia, and threatened to go to war immediately, perhaps, the war would not have lasted as long as it did.
In today's context, I see the United States play a role in pre-empting conflict. And it does so by creating smaller, but more restricted conflicts. Conflicts that do not expand out of a certain geographical boundary. Ever since the fall of Saddam's Iraq, majority of fighting and hostile actions has been localised in that country itself.
Perhaps, if the United States did not topple Saddam, combined with Iran's now transparent nuclear ambitions, a larger scale conflict might actually evolve in the middle east with in 10 years?
In short, would you have multiple small skirmishes, or a once in 50 year World War? Knowing the capabilities of modern weaponry, destructive powers of WMADs, I would think a few small wars in a short span of time would be better off for the existence of humanity. Peace? Lets enjoy it while it lasts. -
what do you mean by will this peace last? There are still so many wars going on......though mainly in Africa
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so you are going to say that peace is a problem and thus we need to cure it?Originally posted by Shotgun:I need some help from the forumnites here. I've got a bit of homework that I need to work on and I have no idea how to go about.
Okay, we picked one heck of a hard topic to write about our argumentative essay. Currently, we are supposed to find short articles that relates to the topic, "Is war the solution for peace?" Up til now, after crawling cyberspace for weeks, I haven't found anything argumentative that speaks of the co-relation of war and peace.
Any of you have any good readings, or can provide me some views on this subject?
I welcome views from both sides of the fence. -
it's like asking... "Is death the solution for life?"
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i tink u gotta define both war n peace 1st...
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food for tought, maybe
"The sheepdog disturbs the sheep, he is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, give them traffic tickets, or stand ready in our airports with M16s. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go 'Baa'. Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog."
- Col Dave Grossman On Combat
They that are on their guard and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and negligent. - Franklin, Benjamin
He is most free from danger, who, even when safe, is on his guard.-
Syrus, Publilus -
GP essay for schools..always go for politically correct, unless you know your teacher is a objective educator who will explore all avenues.For your As, go for your own stand and back it up all the way.Originally posted by Delta 5:Hi Shotgun is this a GP essay or a presentation?
Ok 1 tip for essays sadly is to choose the politically correct answer. That is if you want to score high. Many teachers are conformists who do not readily accept other views or even if they do are afraid of stirring up controversy. For normal topics we can give views from both sides of the coin but this is a sensitive topic as inevitably you will have to cite real life examples like the Middle East conflicts.
Thus you should argue from the point that war is never the solution for peace and keep to that point.
Cheers man... -
There are many variations to that, and also that rough men stand ready to visit harm on those that threaten us, so we may sleep in peace.Originally posted by fett:foor for tought, maybe
"The sheepdog disturbs the sheep, he is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, give them traffic tickets, or stand ready in our airports with M16s. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go 'Baa'. Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog."
-Col Dave Grossman On Combat -
i know. it just happen to be a source i'm able to attribute to.Originally posted by LazerLordz:There are many variations to that, and also that rough men stand ready to visit harm on those that threaten us, so we may sleep in peace. -
Originally posted by fett:i know. it just happen to be a source i'm able to attribute to.
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Hmm - interesting.
Without meaning to sound too fuzzy, the answer really does depend on what one defines as war, from which perspective the point is taken, and whether we are talking about actual war or the threat of war.
Let's look at the first point: what is defined as war? Do tanks have to go rolling across front lines (the traditional definition of war), or could it be a case of terrorists letting off bombs once every 18 months (geurilla warfare), or one country strangling the sea routes to another (economic warfare)?
In the first case, the point doesn't stand - history has shown that in traditional military terms, the aggressor rarely wins in the long run.
In the second case, we have the instances of Israel and Vietnam as evidence. These nation states exist owing to the actions of the Stern Gang and the Viet Cong respectively.
I raised economic warfare more as a mitigating factor than as a method. Does one country need to engage in war with another in order to ensure its economic survival? This of course leads to the second point - what was the objective of starting the war? Was it to set an imbalanced situation right?
The third point is the definition of war. MAD and Singapore's defensive stance are examples of using the threat of war to maintain peace. The first Gulf War and the two World Wars, on the other hand, are examples of using actual warfare to return to a peaceful situation. In the former case, Sun Tzu's "the best war fought is one that is won without a single shot being fired" applies, while the old saying "we don't start fights, we just finish them" applied in the latter case. -
The Great War of 1914-1918 was to be the war to end all wars. That premise was broken in 1939, and there probably hasn't been a single day where there wasn't armed conflict somewhere on the globe.
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You can explore the after effects of war.
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I kinda like to go with the definition of war being an "armed conflict."
Peace would be "The absence of war or other hostilities. " or Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations.
However, in my arguement, peace would be subjective / relative. War in Iraq, and Afghanistan, no major war elsewhere in the near future. Theoretical.
And the our ability to prevent war does not equate to peace. Sometimes, trying to prevent war might actually make the inevitable war become more brutal, and of a larger scale. Ref: Allies appeasement policy prior 1939. -
sign...since ancient times from Greece till San Guo Yan Yi till now, WAR WAR WAR nonstop. u see any peace after war?
all thanks to human greed and power struggle among nations! -
Writing for a GP paper?
Touch on the bitter irony of this chicken and egg saga, then talk about negotiation vs aggression and how successful each are and their strong points. Bring up examples such as the Oslo peace accords between Rabin and Arafat vs the subsequent Palestinian Intifada of 2000.
Bring up the UN and their superficial and largely glossed-over role in maintaining world peace, its ineffectiveness corruption and bureaucracy.
Bring up the issue of war (or the threat of war) which many perceive to be able to solve diplomatic issues between neighbours quicker and more effectively than negotiation. The Falklands campaign is a good example.
Use historical examples of the Roman empire to demonstrate unity through the sword and advancements such as currency and justice. And bring up the flip side of Ghengis Khan and his mongol tribes and how they brutalised the populations they subjugated from beijing to constantinople and the only innocents who suffer are civilians.