David

No, war is not inevitable. As humans' basic needs are met and resources are spread fairly, the rate of armed conflict between nations decreases.

farley

I. Perhaps this forum could aim a bit lower: say, how about achieving a consensus on the suitable levels of analysis, and the appropriate units of analysis for this undertaking?

Doug

Yes. There will always be
fanatical people wanting all the power

Eric

I don't think we are wired for war, but like any good relationship, the relations between nations, require ongoing communications and open-minded flexibility; effective communications require a lot of work. It does not seem to me that there is much will for peace among world leaders, a lot of lip-service, but little real action.

Lauren T

No, war is not inevitable. Though we focus on acts of violence, all around us humankind demonstrates its enormous capacity for compassion and kindness. War is likely, because the influence of historical events will continue into the future, but it's not inevitable. We have the capacity to make war no more.

Greg Rzesniowiecki

Hi Brian,
War is a state of being. Let me explain. We humans are a curious admixture. We are animal, and we like to think we are more than just a creature; some might suggest a spark of divinity.
So it might depend on how one sees ones god. The Ancient's gods were personified, larger than life characters with a temper and often not much patience. More recent personifications have been based in the theme of love and compassion. Show me the quote from the New Testament where that fellow from Palestine suggests killing a fellow human being.. for any reason.. there is no such passage, yet the humans who purport to be Christians find no difficulty waging war, thus killing millions across the globe.
But it is not just war on other peoples.. we wage war on nature.. and we wage war between the males and females of our species.
Where in nature do you view an unpleasant scene? Whether it is a sun-set, or a scene of desert scape or verdant forest, the variation in the coast line, sandy beach or rocky outcrops; they all offer an edifying aesthetic. I offer this to substantiate that nature is of a good quality.
Anything we dislike, which bothers us, causes to feel insecure, unsettles us, or is culturally disproved is often/usually rooted out via war-like activity; insecticides and pesticides, broad spectrum antibiotics, invasive surgery..
Were we to look to nature as a guide, we would come to understand that eradication is not the answer.. balance, and states of equilibrium are preferable. It is better to foster a diverse pasture which has a balance of plants, than to spend a fortune on herbicides/pesticides and special (sometimes GE) seeds to support the artificial monoculture as opposed to the diverse and self maintained meadow which after all will be superior for animal health.
Most humans I presume would answer affirmatively that we humans are smarter than insects. We compete for resource, they co-operate within social insect species; ants, termites, bees.. yes co-operate for their social and ultimately for their species' well-being.
War is an extension of competition, an extreme extension, but nevertheless a graduation on the competition scale.
For war to cease we must recognize the inherent right to life of all, humans, animals, plants.. the cosmos..
This is a long way off.. however a certain fellow in Palestine some 2000 years ago made a few suggestions including, "love the other as yourself".
This tenet is reflected in each of the great religions, it is reflected in the declarations of the United Nations, it is also central to humanism, atheistic and theistic humanism.
Philosophically we agree, intuitively we agree, practically we still compromise, and as a result we kill.

In love and respect, greg.

http://gregfullmoon.blogspot.co.nz/

Daniel B

Human sacrifice, slavery, divine right of kings, subjugation of women. These are just some of the social institutions that ,at some point in history, people wondered whether or not they were inevitable. The same is true of war. It's possible that we'll be able to end war and it's possible that war will end humanity. The answer depends on us. If humanity can figure out how to curtail extremist ideologies and continue to spread liberal democracy through out the world, in some form or another, there's a good chance that in a century, war will follow the same trajectory that slavery followed. Perhaps much of the reason for this might be due to economics. Like slavery, as war becomes economically unprofitable, especially if the world economic continues to integrate, war will be bad for business.

marae

War is not inevitable. The peace churches have always known this. Quakers, Mennonites and Breathern are among these. Quakers believe it is possible to live in a way that takes away the seeds of war. War is also just stupid. It never solves anything. It only sets the stage for more conflect.
Your program takes away some of the seeds of war. Knowledge, art and conversation contribute to peace. Peace.

Bob from Brooklyn

War is inevitable because there will always be stupid people following evil leaders promising hope and change. Two prime examples: Islam is a political system that has thrived through expansion based on conquest and oppression. They have waged war on Jews, Christians and others for almost 1500 years. Marxism is based on class war. It lead to the death of tens of millions of people, murdered by their own leaders. It has failed everywhere it was tried, yet crazy people seem to want to try it here in America - the country that saved the world by standing up to fascism and communism.

Ken Reich

I think it is a waste of time to consider whether humans are genetically predisposed to war; it’s academic. I also think it is a waste of time to consider the reasons we go to war in a macro sense. Those reasons are always distorted by winners and losers are subject to such nuance that it is the equivalent of picking fly s—t out of pepper.
But I think the behavior that leads to war is learned and if it is learned, it can be unlearned. Only who and how can we in our mass culture teach us to unlearn it? I don’t think people ever go to war as an expression of Power but always as an expression of powerlessness. They act as a group to relieve a sense of powerlessness that has nothing to do with moral or ethical considerations or even right and wrong. After all, the winners always consider themselves to right.
We need to ask ourselves if we can shed our need for tribes and racial and cultural identity. If we can’t do that, asking the question, “is war inevitable?” is moot.

Jesus Angel Garcia

As long as there is fear, there will be war. As long as there is religion, there will be war. As long as there are "national interests," there will be war.

Human "civilization" means War Without End.

http://www.badbadbad.net/Page1.html#nekkid

Cody Plant From Pensacol

Unfortunately I feel that as long as we are a world run by men we will engage in wars of some kind. I myself am male and used to be in favor of wars but as I have grown up I do not endorse war at all.

Bill Boyeson

War in inevitable as long as people somehow believe their God is more RIGHT than your God. Or said another way, until people finally get the notion they maybe there's no God at all we'll continue to fight about this silly, but unfortunately very strong conviction....

Steve Fried

Yes, inescapable and irrevocable too, sad to say.

Doris Lessing says it best for me in her 1985 Massey Lecture Series talks, titled Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, when in the first lecture "When in the Future They Look Back on Us," she points out a fundamental fallacy of assumption:

"I think it is sentimental to discuss the subject of war, or peace, without acknowledging that a great many people enjoy war -- not only the idea of it, but the fighting itself. In my time I have sat through many many hours spent listening to people talking about war, the prevention of war, the awfulness of war, with it never once being mentioned that for large numbers of people the idea of war is exciting, and that when a war is over they may say it was the best time in their lives. This may be true even of people whose experiences in war were terrible, and which ruined their lives. People who have lived through a war know that as it approaches, and at first secret, unacknowledged, elation begins, as if an almost inaudible drum is beating ... an awful, illicit, violent excitement is abroad. Then the elation becomes too strong to be ignored or overlooked: then everyone is possessed by it."

Along with work by Marianne Moore and Mohandas Gandhi, Lessing's quote is the basis for my 7-minute documentary film, "Warinward," linked below.

But maybe Cormac McCarthy says it worst but truest when, in his novel Blood Meridian, his violent mouthpiece the Judge asserts with evangelical enthusiasm: "War is but a forcing of the unity of existence. Here are considerations of equity and rectitude and moral right rendered void and without warrant, and here are the views of the litigants despised."

David Mintz

No.

Here's the thing: what's at stake is species survival. We can't afford war. If we buy into the proposition that it is inevitable, we are at grave risk of allowing it to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Call my argument irrational, even faith-based -- that's fine. I think we have to believe.

jgarbuz

Yes, conflict is inevitable, but nuclear weapons limit their scope to a degree, with more "asymmetric" warfare being the present and certainly future trend of wars. So they will be less bloody overall, but still exhausting and costly nonetheless.

But the possibility of nuclear war between say Iran and Israel is very much a probability rather than a possibility, because one side refuses to accept the RIGHT of the other to exist. That is THE prescription for GENOCIDAL conflict.

P.S., Regarding Bonobos, because the females do not create hunting bands, as do regular patriarchal chimpanzees bonobo-controlled territories are very small and undesirable - which is why they are left alone. Otherwise, they would have been wiped out.

Art

Thus far, Yes! Since you are making such a gross over generalization, I will suggest that women are as aggressive as males are; they operate, albeit behind the lines, however, they manipulate and conspire, they compete and seek power and fame, as many males do. After all, they protect their offspring, position, and territory, whether it is males, land, position in life, etc. They compete, conspire and manipulate amongst themselves and against other females, for males and goods, as well as, power, fame and status...that's war...Lady MacBeth...Goneril, etc. against Cordelia (King Lear). Our own bodies are at war, defending itself against invaders. The only way, aggressive behavior will end, is if we teach it and culturally nurture it. Christians mouth the love of Jesus, but hypocritically practice everything that is contrary to The Teaching: "give up your wealth, position, and power (wealth) and feed and help the poor, the handicapped and the humble and the meek." They are Pro-Life, but don't give a damn about the living, millions of starving and homeless people in the USA. That's war! The NRA is war! Your national sport, American football, is war! All competition, whether sport teams or otherwise, is war! Using strategies and tactics to outsmart and beat your opponent is war! Having an opponent is war, whether its chess, or tennis, is war! Grading systems in school is war! We do not operate nor teach and thus, ingrain the rules, ethos, or culture of co-operation. Siblings compete amongst themselves for the biggest piece of the pie, and parent(s) often indirectly encourage this behavior is war. Religions especially, with their "I and You" essence and conditioning attitudes is war. If our cultures nurture this behavior, then how can we expect countries to co-operate and respect each others territory...Oops! Territory conjures up war!

Yes, all these are gross generalizations...however, they are worth reflecting on. One has to define "the semantics" when dealing with the definition of war and its meaning.

And by the way, there are all kinds of males, as well as, females. And as long as people are conditioned and incited to fear, and to suspect, we will nurture War!

Nicholas Jouvanis

War will be inevitable if we do not rise above conventional thinking and take into consideration metaphysical and spiritual factors. Major factors include "the collective unconscious"...as spiritual psychiatrist Carl G. Jung called it, and karma is a second factor.
The collective unconscious, also known as the universal-mind, refers to psychic phenomena. We must wake up to the fact that all mankind is psychic.
Jung cautioned: “The gigantic catastrophes that threaten us today are not elemental happenings of a physical or biological order, but psychic events. To a quite terrifying degree, we are threatened by wars and revolutions that are nothing other than psychic epidemics. At any moment several millions of human beings may be smitten with a new madness, and then we shall have another world war or devastating revolution. Instead of being at the mercy of wild beasts, earthquakes, landslides, and inundations, modern man is battered by the elemental forces of his own psyche. We are continually threatened by psychic factors which, in the guise of natural phenomena, may take possession of us at any moment. This is the World Power that vastly exceeds all other powers on earth.”

Life is profoundly karmic. We each create our future from what we say and do today. Events now exist in the future awaiting their turn to manifest as today's reality. (As you sew, so shall you reap.) War will always exist in our future as long as mankind does not resolve OUR OWN INDIVIDUAL subconscious pain. This includes forgiving, praying for and loving whoever caused that pain...our transgressor...who just happens to be an integral part of that spiritual learning experience. THERE IS NO FOE. That is part of the illusion of life.

I am a spiritual therapist practicing yoga breath therapy. www.thespiritualkey.com

Sal D'Addezio

War is inevitable, as long as the "Ego" and "Super Ego" (Freud's terms, not mine)remain as a basic brain function of the human psyche. As long as one faction "Thinks" it is superior over another faction i.e. WW2, white v. black, sheite(sp.) v. sunni there will be conflicts. Now here is the rub, that will never happen. Another reason I feel War is inevitable is religious differences. More people have been killed in the name of "God" over the millenia than in any land grab conflict. I cite the "Jewish Insurrection" in ancient Rome, which led to Roman Legions trying to erase that population to the Muslim invasions across the Mediteranian (convert or die) that led to the "Holy Crusades" to the Tamil Tigers and finaly the Taliban "Jihad".
I don't want to come off sounding like a pessimist, I would love to live in a world of the 1960's mindset of "Peace, Love & Tranquility" but from where I am sitting I don't see it happening soon, and worse yet I don't see it ever happening.