War, Definition. and Primary Causes of War.

War, Definition, Primary Causes of War

Introduction

A conflict or war is the result of multiple factors.  No single factor causes war. Since the causes of war are cumulative, according to circumstances at a given time, some particular cause becomes more important than other causes and ultimately becomes the immediate cause of Conflict and war. Conflict or War is state where each state perceives the other's goals, values, tangible and intangible intentions and interests as antithetical. It is a state prior to full fledged eruption of war. Conflict or War embraces military, political, social, economic relationships. War or Conflicts involve intrastate struggles for survival. The characteristic of conflict is perceived as one is pre World Wars, post World Wars and after 9/11 incident which was a turning point in new International Order. In pre World War era wars were fought among States because of subjugation of Colonies, while post World War conflicts were fought within nations in the same state decolonized from the clutches of Colonial powers. The imperial colonial powers unwittingly left the countries but left their surrogates against the wishes of native people. Pre 2000 wars were sanguinary wars fought by both super powers in the lands of other countries never attacked each other. Their war perished millions of innocent people in the entire world. Post 2000 war is occupation of countries and overthrow of government under the umbrella of United Nations system by the United States with the blind and silent support of European and Muslim countries. Majority of Arab countries were destroyed by the war power of United States with the covert support of Arab countries due to fear of losing their illegitimate power. This era has been rife with unseen wave of terrorism initiated from mountain of Tora Bora following the occupation and liberation of Afghanistan with the blood of Afghani people. War or Conflict can be defined in simple worlds as a form of intentional verbal, emotional, physical assault that cause friction and leads to violence or fighting between two state and group of states. War or conflicts originate due to security concerns, religious or ideological reasons. No period of human history has been free of war. Despite thousands of sanguinary war in the annals of human history, the frequency of war has not diminished. There has been an astonishing advancement in the field of nuclear weapons and the nations are engaged in the mad race for armaments. Every nation wants to fulfill its national interests and that is why it comes in conflict with other nations. Recourse to war is taken only when all other means have failed. War is no doubt, the final and most effective means of pursuing national interest, but it is not an end in itself. War is a legal condition, which permits hostile groups to carry on conflict by armed forces. In broader sense, war includes every kind of hostile act, but in its narrower sense, only armed conflict bet states is termed as war.

Definition of War propounded by various renowned strategic philosophers.

According to Hoffman Nickerson, “war is the use of organized force between two human groups pursuing two contradictory policies

, each group seeking to impose its policy on the other.

According to Karl Von Clausewitz, war is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse with an admixture of other means.

According to Oppenheim “War is a contention between two or more states through their armed forces, for the purpose of overpowering each other and imposing such conditions of peace as the victor pleases.

Palmer and Perkins consider war as “the great curse of international society, the endemic disease of the nation state system.

Quincy Wright in his classic work ‘A study of War’ indites that in 5560 years of recorded human history there have been 14531 wars.

Causes of WAR.

Wars or Conflicts were caused for imposing their own ideologies or world order. the ideological divergence witnessed during the Cold War era between West and East. Wars or Conflict may be caused by national character, ideological beliefs, imperialist or hegemonic tendencies. Wars are caused by many factors and they are inseparable. The conference on the Cause and Cure of War in 1925 suggested more than 250 causes under four headings political, economic, social and psychological. According to Quincy Wright “war has politico-technological, Juro-ideological, Socio-religious and psycho-economic causes”. All those factors are the causes of war which compel nations or states to resort to the use of force to settle their mutual disputes.

Below mentioned are the primary causes of War or Conflict

1.         Psychological causes.

2.         Political and Territorial causes.

3.         Ideological and cultural causes.

4.         Economic causes.

5.         International system.

War is the result of multiple factors no single factor causes war. Since the causes of war are cumulative, according to circumstances at a given time, some particular cause becomes more important than other causes and ultimately becomes the immediate cause of war.

Wish you Good Luck Take care of yourself and others. Professor Dr Qayum Mangi, Principal College of Superior Services Sukkur Sindh.