Does Conflict Work?

Does Conflict Work?

Conflict is a dispute between two or more parties that may or may not lead to physical war. Conflict happens all over the world. Modern-day conflicts consist of the Russian-Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine, and in many other countries where there are conflicts whether that be with neighbouring countries, countries far away, or even civil and diplomatic wars. Conflict can be instigated in many ways, including rising diplomatic tensions, dictatorships, imperialism, territorial disputes from many years ago, religion, beliefs, and opposing views. The area where a country is situated, its trade relations, imports, and exports can also affect the reason why conflict begins. For example, according to the Global Peace Index, the Democratic Republic of Congo has a rating of 3.214/5 putting it at 159/163 surveyed countries. It has a high score in access to military weapons with 5/5. The ratio of crime to police is disproportionate. The country has a security and police officers rating of 1.5/5. Still, they have a 4.25/5 rating for homicides, and 5/5 for organized conflict as well as political instability, political terror, and internal conflicts fought. and violent crime but only have a rating that shows 1.19/5 for the jailed population. This is proof that war doesn’t work, however, The American Civil War has led to black people in America having rights and freedom of speech. These are two conflicts that have had very opposing results, and you can argue why there should and shouldn’t be war, at the end of the day, the question is, does conflict work?

Conflict in history has had a huge impact on our society today. An example of this is WW1. Without the war, the development of tanks, machine guns, submarines, and the use of planes had never been contemplated before. The forming of the United Nations would never have come about if not for the Great War. There were huge technological advances and the conflict also helped fuel the women’s rights movement which would result in the Women’s vote and better opportunities for women. The First World War also led to democracies in parts of the world such as Austria, Turkey, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, and Czechoslovakia. Poland also became an independent country for the first time in 123 years. There was a conference in Paris where the infamous Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June 1919. This proves that war does work because it liberates people, allows humans to work and develops technologies in new, unheard-of ways. It can create better lifestyles for people with less influence and grow economies.

Despite the end of WW1, the Treaty of Versailles triggered a few things such as German anger, retaliation and the rise of Adolf Hitler. There was a severe loss of territory for the Germans and demilitarisation of the Rhineland. Germany was also very poor because of the large payment they had to give the Allies. Other negative results of WW1 consist of around 13 million innocent civilians being killed and 8 million soldiers. There were also many displaced families and entire cities were torn to shreds with many civilian targets. Rationing was introduced in February 1918 to prevent food shortages. This led to starvation and even death. The largest cause of death during the war was starvation with around 424,00 people passing away. The war was also called “The Great War” because of a mix of lethal weaponry and large armies. Germany took the biggest blow in World War One. Not only were they heavily punished by the Treaty of Versailles, but they also took the most casualties with the number amounting to two million militant personnel and 700,000 civilians. Turkey had the most civilian deaths with two million people dying in the region. This is proof that war doesn’t always work. The number of innocent lives and the deaths of innocent people is unprecedented. The war was named the “Great War” because of how many atrocities happened far around the globe. The war also caused some alliances to break down and hate to grow, particularly in Germany with the meteoric rise of Adolf Hitler.

The actions of people generally aren’t random. They are done for a reason, which can be found in different philosophical ideas and beliefs. An example of this is the Islamic idea of Lesser and Greater Jihad. The first part is Lesser Jihad. This is a person’s external struggle to keep peace and prevent conflict. This deals with the war around them and the choice of whether to contribute. Greater Jihad is a person’s internal struggle to keep peace. This means remaining calm as a person and keeping peace within them. Greater Jihad is seen as the bigger one of the two and is treasured more.

Another belief is the Just War Theory made by Thomas Aquinas. Originally, Christians were pacifist meaning that they tried to avoid war or any form of conflict. This belief was tested when in 313AD, The Roman Emperor of the time, Constantine, converted to Christianity. This was an issue because the Roman Empire was a big powerful empire and if it became pacifist, it would be seen as weak, and he would not be emperor for much longer. Since this, Christians have been trying to make war as just as possible. Just War Theory gives a set of rules for going to war. These rules are:

• It must be in a just cause.
• A competent authority must declare it.
• There must be just intention.
• There must be compassion on both sides.
• It must be a last resort.
• There must be a likelihood of success.
• It must be proportional.

This links back to the question because if war is done according to these rules, then conflict becomes more reasonable.

These ideas and beliefs say that war is okay as long as it is justified. But there are some beliefs and ideas that say that war isn’t ok. One such belief is during the days of Jesus and Pacifism. Pacifism is the belief that war is wrong, you should always try and keep peace. Pacifism is explained as this, “Peace is not the absence of war, it is a sense of well-being and security”. This belief prevents conflict from spilling out. It attempts to contain it and keep war to a minimum. Jesus gave a famous sermon on the mountain. He said, “You have heard what I said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” This message to early Christians was a massive part in their belief that pacifism was the way to go. Matthew 5:9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God”. This bible scripture shows how key pacifism was to Christians wanting to lead a good life.

Muslims laid out some rules that made a war unjust and therefore a bad war. This set of ideas meant that if war broke out because of any of these rules, then the war was bad and shouldn’t have happened. These rules are:

• Force people to convert to Islam.
• Conquer other nations to colonize them.
• Take territory for economic gain.
• Settle Disputes
• Demonstrate a leader’s power.

Philosophy, religions, and beliefs help us make better choices in life and in times, such as conflict and war. If conducted correctly and following some of these rules, war can be just and fair as seen in the Cold War. Both America and the USSR could have launched deadly nuclear weapons that would have probably led to another world war but morals and “Thinking about the bigger picture”. However, sometimes, these beliefs and ideas can lead to chaos and a massive breakout of war. The Crusades are a prime example of this. The war between Christians and Muslims. It began because of a sermon by Pope Urban II that sparked anger and led to unjustifiable consequences with the death of 1.7 million people.

As society develops, conflict has died down a bit. A study from 2005’s The Human Security Report documents the trend that between the 1990s and 2003, there has been a significant decline in homicides and wars and an uprise in international activism. It can be argued that this is down to geography and geopolitical powers. Greta Thunberg has put massive pressure on governments around the world to improve the environment and save the planet. The Black Lives Matter movement in 2019 was a symbolic moment during the COVID pandemic. This doesn’t mean that conflict hasn’t happened, however.

In 2011, Libya was stuck in a dictatorship run by Qadhafi and tried to get out of it. Rebels began forming and NATO came together to decide if to intervene. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ultimately decided to strike and help take down the dictatorship. Their part in the civil war meant that Qadhafi’s regime crumbled and at the end of the year, Libya was free. However, this sudden attempt to conciliate led to more problems. NATO only planned for militant action but did not aid the country financially or help in setting up a new leadership. This has led to more conflict as different parties fight for power. This shows that Conflict can work but can lead to huge repercussions if handled correctly.

Conflict is an idea that can work when executed correctly. The idea of conflict is interpreted and dealt with in many different ways. Christians believe that there are different ways of dealing with conflict, this can be following the Just War Theory or just trying to avoid it all with Pacifism. Muslims believe that you fight two wars—one within yourself and one With the world around you. Historically, conflict has been a huge problem. Both World Wars, Civil Wars, The Cold War, and Wars for Independence have all had significant impacts on many people whether that be in the past or now. Geography has also had its say in the cause of conflict. The Scramble For Africa is a conflict purely based on the continent’s natural resources and imperialism. All of this means that there has been a lot of conflict and the main question is “Has War Worked?”

In some cases, yes but in others, no. I think that war does work but that is heavily dependent on how it is carried out. I think this because a lot of good has come out of war. For example: independence for countries, better living conditions for some, freedom, and more, and in most scenarios, war can be the lesser of two evils. Conflict has its bad outcomes and not every conflict has worked out for the greater good, despite this, when executed and planned well, the conflict being fought is just, reasonable and it works.