are all wars caused by politics and do all wars end in political decisions?’

are all wars caused by politics and do all wars end in political decisions?’

Research Question

A basic description of war is a presentation of the conflict between or among political groups. However, there is a sociological definition of war that defines war as a series of battles or disputes that are conducted according to some pre-defined procedures. This research is about the different types of war that have occurred over the many past years. There has been many and heated debates concerning the causes of war. Many scholars and politicians have argued that politics is the main cause of wars that have happened in the past. This introduces the research question for this paper which is ‘are all wars caused by politics and do all wars end in political decisions?’ The above research question will be answered by answering an hypothesis which states that ‘all wars are caused by politics and end in a political decision’.

Literature Review

Politics are as old das the earth itself. Since time immemorial, human kind, as a social creature, has existed in groups for their benefit such as security. However, different communities often conflicted and disputed for many reasons. There have been many debates concerning the various concepts and theories that describe relationships between social factors and politics. The modern types of wars are completely different from the traditional warfare that has happened in the past. Events of wars have been have formed crucial topics of discussion among scholars and political leaders and even historians. The most significant events of war include the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 9/11 of the USA, the incidence of Russia occupying Crimea and the revelation Stuxnet. The modern wars have changed in nature as they have been transformed by advancement in technology. There has been emergence of nuclear weapon, biological and even chemical weapons. Such weapons have the ability to impact vast areas of damage as compared to the traditional weapons. It is critically important to understand the causes of war so as to establish an appropriate plan of solving the conflicts. It is also important to identify the causes of war to understand what reaction to take as a way of counteracting the opponent.

This part of the discussion paper seeks to provide answers to the research question provided above. According to my research, politics form one of the most significant causes of war. More so, there are many instances when the solutions for ending war conflicts have been reached through political negotiations and agreements between the conflicting parties. That implies that to some levels, the hypothesis defined above stands to true. However, politics is not the only player that is involved in wars. There are various causes and promoters of war. Similarly, there are many types of solutions for ending war other than through politics. This implies that the hypothesis defied above is half-true and half-correct. For the sake the research question, the paper seeks to identify and provide a discussion of various causes of war or other factors that trigger conflicts among political groups. The paper will also discuss various methods providing solutions to disputes other than politically organized agreements and negotiations. In simple, this paper seeks to justify why the above hypothesis is false.

Discussion

Economic Causes of War

The world has witnessed many incidences of various countries engaging in war activities as a result of economic interests. An example of this is the types of wars in the Middle East where countries have engaged in affairs of war as they try to claim possession of natural resources that prove to be of great economic value to a country. There is a wide range of economic activities that act as motivators for war between countries. It is not just a matter of fight over natural resources. International wars have been triggered by factors such boundaries. Boundaries contribute to both political and economic causes of international wars. We have witnessed international conflicts such as the long-lasting conflicts between Israel and Pakistan. Sea boundaries have been an issue contributing to war. Countries fight over sea borders mainly because of the resources found in the oceans such as fishing activities and minerals. Lately, there is ongoing war in East Africa between Kenya and Somalia. The two countries are fighting over ocean borders because of the presence of petroleum oil with the area of interest by the two countries. Economic wars do not need to be physical because of strategies applied. The countries start by establishing restrictions in trade and trans-border movements until they escalate to advanced levels of war.

Historical Evolution

As it is outlined above in the introduction of the paper, human being is a social creature. Individuals will always tend to live together to benefit from each other for survival. This has always been the case since the origin of mankind. People lived in tribes or small politically organized groups. It was very common for these groups to conflicts with each other due to hunting grounds. The main purpose was for each group to increase their territories as a move to have an area large enough to provide enough food for their populations. According to Greece history, there was mass migration of people as different groups of people moved in such of places where there population would get enough food. Unfortunately, such places were scarce and this led to many contests between these groups of people as they tried to own every productive territory of land. A continuation of the above type of war exists inform of civil wars. Most civil wars have occurred where various community fight for no apparent reason. The main cause of this type of war is that the fighting communities do not share common language, values or even way of life.

Additionally, every political cause of war has always been backed up by an economic objective for the same war. Most cases we have the economic reason for war being hidden as a way of playing public relations so that a country cannot be termed as greedy. The study of the history of war has not been inclusive enough. It has been conducted from the orientation of the western culture and lifestyles. Take for example most of the conflicts witnessed in Africa. The westerners went to Africa with the purpose of missionary work. But upon realizing the economic potential of Africa, they hid their economic greed in politics of colonialism. As the African communities tried to protect their natural resources, war emerged that resulted in the dead of many Africans. Such wars were solely due to economic reasons where the westerners were after the minerals and fertile highlands in Africa.

Religion

Religion is another cause of war. People have engaged in activities of war due to differences in their faith since time immemorial. Religious wars have always been quite different from wars caused by other causes. During the time of Adolf Hitler in Germany, there was one of the worst acts of war due to religion. Hitler executed almost all the Jews in Germany just because of their faith. The Islamic religion has been associated with numerous organizations of militia groups that have terrorized the world by engaging in acts of war. Some of these groups include Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and Isis. These groups engage in acts of war because of their religious faith. They believe that anyone who doesn’t share their faith is an offender and should be punished by war. Some even belief in holy awards if they die during events of war.

Events of wars have been have formed crucial topics of discussion among scholars and political leaders and even historians. The most significant events of war include the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 9/11 of the USA, the incidence of Russia occupying Crimea and the revelation Stuxnet. The modern wars have changed in nature as they have been transformed by advancement in technology. There has been emergence of nuclear weapon, biological and even chemical weapons. Such weapons have the ability to impact vast areas of damage as compared to the traditional weapons.

According the conclusion of this research paper, the hypothesis statement posed above has been proven false. According to this research paper, it is clearly that politics is not the only cause of war in the existence of human. However, the paper is keen to appreciate the fact that politics is a key player when it comes to motivation of international conflicts. The paper has established that there are other causes of war such as religion, historical evolution, and ethnicity of different groups, Colonialism and even economic factors. However, in most cases, war will not be triggered by one factor. It will most probably be triggered by a combination of two or more causative agents of war. In most cases, the combination is usually between political and economic causes.