In a World of Many Conflicts – Political, Economic and Social – Why Should There Not Be More Rather Than Fewer Wars?
UNITED STATES
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
USIU (AFRICA)
In a world of many conflicts – political, economic and social – why should there not be more rather than fewer wars?
Introduction
In a world of many conflicts – political, economic and social – why should there not be more rather than fewer wars?
The question is, from my point of view, relative asked. There is no number of how many wars should be going on in the world in proportion to conflicts and therefore what are more wars in relative to what? A more right way to put the question, in my opinion, is to ask why do we have peace?
I would like to start to define the difference between conflict and war, then introduce two international-relations theories called utopianism and balance of power. Finally in my conclusion I would like from a utopians perspective try to answer the question why we do have peace using the balance of power theory (if that is possible?)
Conflict vs. War
According to the book Contending Theories of International Relations-A Comprehensive Survey by James E. Dougherty and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr. the term conflict refers to “a condition in which one identifiable group of human beings (whether tribal, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious, socioeconomic, political, or other) is engaged in conscious opposition to one or more other identifiable human groups because these groups are pursuing what are or appear to be incompatible goals (Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff, 1997, p179). War on the other hand, is according to Donald Kagan, “the result of competition for power” (Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff, 1997, p.178). Therefore we could assume that a conflict arises because human beings are different and have “incompatible goals”. When the goals are to achieve more power; economic, military or ideologically, a conflict can develop to a war. A conflict can be a gamble for power but not in the same extent as a war.
Utopianism
Utopianism is today known also as
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
USIU (AFRICA)
In a world of many conflicts – political, economic and social – why should there not be more rather than fewer wars?
Introduction
In a world of many conflicts – political, economic and social – why should there not be more rather than fewer wars?
The question is, from my point of view, relative asked. There is no number of how many wars should be going on in the world in proportion to conflicts and therefore what are more wars in relative to what? A more right way to put the question, in my opinion, is to ask why do we have peace?
I would like to start to define the difference between conflict and war, then introduce two international-relations theories called utopianism and balance of power. Finally in my conclusion I would like from a utopians perspective try to answer the question why we do have peace using the balance of power theory (if that is possible?)
Conflict vs. War
According to the book Contending Theories of International Relations-A Comprehensive Survey by James E. Dougherty and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr. the term conflict refers to “a condition in which one identifiable group of human beings (whether tribal, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious, socioeconomic, political, or other) is engaged in conscious opposition to one or more other identifiable human groups because these groups are pursuing what are or appear to be incompatible goals (Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff, 1997, p179). War on the other hand, is according to Donald Kagan, “the result of competition for power” (Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff, 1997, p.178). Therefore we could assume that a conflict arises because human beings are different and have “incompatible goals”. When the goals are to achieve more power; economic, military or ideologically, a conflict can develop to a war. A conflict can be a gamble for power but not in the same extent as a war.
Utopianism
Utopianism is today known also as
Bibliography: Dougherty, J. E., and Pfaltzgraff, R. L. Jr., 1997.Contending Theories of International Relations – A Comprehensive Survey: 4th ed, New York: Longman. Brown, C., 2001. Understanding International Relations: 2nd ed, Hampshire: Palgrave.