The Difference in the Reasons and Causes of Wars
People or countries fight for many reasons (Levy & Thompson, 2011). Usually, the use of sources in the introduction is neither prohibited nor encouraged. The use of sources in the introduction is discouraged unless one is presenting some valuable background information, statistics, historical data, or a quote. Since human beings first appeared on earth millions of years ago, the social problem of war has persistently plagued the planet. Consequently, the human population has been adversely affected. For example, Ridley (2017), reports that at least 5.4 million deaths between 1955 and 2002 were attributed to war in 13 countries. These statistics highlight the ramifications of both politically-instigated violence and civil conflicts. In my opinion, it is crucial to understand the reasons and causes of wars in dealing with the social issue (Levy & Thompson, 2011). Personal information is anything that pertains to an opinion, standpoint, impression, feeling, etc. Naturally, such evidence is expressed by the author and cannot be referenced. Unfortunately, the reasons and causes of wars are often blurred and difficult to differentiate. This essay argues that the causes of war are attributed to factors relating to disputes, injustices, and ideological differences while the reasons for war entail incentives such as the need to display dominance or eliminate a perceived threat.
While the reasons of wars focus on eliminating a perceived threat, the causes of war are not always goal-oriented (Levy & Thompson, 2011). This is common knowledge. Notably, the causes of wars seek to counteract a threat. The Israeli-Palestine War can help convey this argument vividly. The War is instigated by religious differences and geographic disputes. Black (2018), argues that the origins of the War can be pinpointed to the Jewish occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip regions; this resulted into a serious conflict with the Palestinian inhabitants. Conversely, the reasons of war focus on attaining a goal (Levy & Thompson, 2011).
Besides being goal-oriented, the reasons of wars seek to demonstrate a group’s display of dominance unlike the causes of war. A group that engages in a tussle is often motivated by the need to exert control over its opponent. For instance, the United States’ military intervention of the Iraq-Kuwait conflict was a display of U.S’ military supremacy (Maiolo, 2016). Conversely, motive is a common cause of war, especially when the conflicting groups have a common interest. Since each group believes that they are entitled to the resource being pursued, war erupts.
The solutions in dealing with the causes of war are not as straightforward as those related to the reasons of wars. Since most causes of war entail historical disputes of resources, discrimination, and ideological differences, it is often difficult to provide direct and sustainable solutions. For example, the Israeli-Palestine conflict has been described as the “most intractable conflict” because of the complex religious and resource issues involved (Shafir, 2017). In this case, the writer inserted an in-text citation without modifying the wording.
In contrast, by identifying the reasons of war, policymakers can understand the underlying motives. Reasons of wars such as: to win, to revenge, and fighting is an act of honor, can be solved if a peace agreement is reached by the conflicting parties.
In concluding, the causes and reasons of wars are distinguishable. To begin with, contrary to the causes of wars, the reasons of wars are often goal-oriented (Levy & Thompson, 2011). The referenced information was already covered in the body, and the conclusion should be used to restate that evidence in different words but with the same meaning. In addition, the reasons of wars entail the need to display dominance while this may fail to be the case in the causes of war. Third, the reasons of war are easier to address than the causes of war because of complex issues in the latter. Therefore, it is important for policymakers to identify the reasons of wars when addressing the root causes of these conflicts.