How many wars have human beings fought during our history? Only God knows. Perhaps the best answer is “far too many.”
War
is not inevitable. It can be prevented, and it can be ended where it currently
exists. We just need determination to do it.
The
next section discusses some efforts to end war in the 20th Century. After
that a subtopic covers some ideas on resolving or avoiding a few specific wars.
The final segment mentions some general guidelines for preventing war.
20th
Century Efforts to End War
I
love the idealistic thoughts behind efforts during and after World War I to end
all war.
That
1914-1918 conflict was often referred to as “the war to end all wars.” A 1914
article (then book) by H.G. Wells titled “The War That Will End War,” [1] is credited as the original inspiration for the phrase.
After
World War I ended, an organization of nations called the League of Nations
formed. It sought to end war. But the United States never joined it despite
President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts. The organization proved ineffective to
prevent another world war and formally ended in 1946.
An
idealistic idea to make war illegal came a decade after World War I. The Kellogg-Briand Pact [2] prohibited war between its signatories. According to the U.S. Department of
State, the United States and 14 other nations signed it August 27, 1928, and 47
other nations signed it later, “so the pact was eventually signed by most of
the established nations of the world.”
However,
enforcement of Kellogg-Briand did not occur. An even more horrendous war, World
War II, occurred 1939-1945.
After World War II another international organization, The United Nations (UN), formed and sought to end war. According to the UN website, [3] the UN formed in 1945 and currently has 193 members.
It
has proven somewhat more effective than the League of Nations. However, the
United Nations has no troops of its own, depending on its members to provide
them for peacekeeping efforts. Corruption of various types has occurred over
the years too, as is true of any human organization.
Furthermore,
the UN’s most powerful body, the United Nations Security Council, which
consists of 5 permanent members and 10 members that rotate in and out, is set up
so that the 5 permanent members each have veto power over its decisions. One
powerful nation, such as Russia (formerly the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics) or the United States, sometimes uses this individual veto power for
selfish purposes.
World
War I, World War II, and the United Nations haven’t ended war.
Preventing
or Avoiding Specific Wars
Many
have written about how events after World War I led to World War II. The huge
reparations Germany was forced to pay after World War I and the rise to power
of its charismatic leader Adolph Hitler were key factors that led to World War
II.
Japan’s
desire to expand its land and resources was another root cause.
The
economic depression of the 1930s added to the problem as residents of various
countries experienced economic difficulty and desperation.
Ducksters [4] is one of many websites that discusses in a simplified way some factors contributing
toward World War II.
One
reason we haven’t yet had a World War III is that the end of World War II was
handled better than the end of World War I. The victors engaged in rebuilding efforts in Germany and
Japan after the war instead of requiring reparations. This established friendships
and reduced animosity.
The
UN, despite its corruption and weaknesses, has proven more effective than the
League of Nations. Numerous other aid organizations help too.
The
other aid organizations include CARE founded in 1945, Medicins Sans Frontieres
(Doctors Without Borders) founded in 1972, the International Federation of Red
Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) which has expanded over the years from its
original organization well over a century ago, and the Peace Corps which was
created in the early 1960s. These groups help in countries around the world to reduce
disease, hunger, thirst, etc.
In fact I would argue that the relatively small amount of money the United States government spends on the Peace Corps does substantially more good internationally on a dollar basis than our military expenditures.
Below
is a 2017 photo of the Peace Corps building in Washington, DC, that I took
during a visit to the city.
Much more could be done. If Vietnam had been granted its independence after
World War II, the Vietnam War could likely have been prevented. When I was in
college beginning in 1976, many Vietnam War veterans were still in college as well. I heard some
of them at the University of Kentucky calling themselves suckers for going to war, discussing the uselessness
of the war, and how poorly it was conducted.
A lot of patriotic young persons who sincerely sought to serve their country and their world in Vietnam were misled by the nation's leaders.
Indeed, many of the early protesters of the Vietnam War were veterans fed up with what was going on. Antiwar protests likely contributed toward ending the war, though the conflict could have ended better. I want to make it clear that it was wrong the way returning Vietnam veterans were mistreated though.
If
done on a large scale, massive antiwar protests worldwide could end all wars
and prevent future ones. But such protests in totalitarian countries are more
difficult to organize and implement than in places like the United States.
Still, the Arab Spring protests that began in 2010 had some constructive
results in relatively totalitarian countries.
Divisions
within countries often lead to violence and war, such as the United States
Civil War over slavery and states’ rights, and the effort by eastern Ukraine to
secede from the rest of the country.
What
if the United States had managed to eliminate slavery peacefully over time as
many other nations did? Instead we did it via electing President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, which was followed by the secession of southern states and
war. A different path could have been pursued.
What if Ukraine had willingly given independence to the eastern Ukraine residents
who spoke a different language than the rest of Ukrainians and sought
independence? What if then the internationally community had united to support a
new nation in eastern Ukraine and prevent either western Ukraine or Russia from
seeking to acquire it via violent or other corrupt means? The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict may have been prevented.
Unfortunately,
the Ukrainian government discriminated against residents in eastern Ukraine,
not allowing them to use their Russian language in schools. Then secession was
sought. This was followed by Russian interference. The resulting war continues.
Russia’s
military actions against Ukraine in recent years are inexcusable. But they were
preceded by other inexcusable abuses.
Furthermore,
if the Palestinians and Israelis who are fed up with the violent conflicts
between the two groups will unite to stop the minority of radicals on both
sides, they can experience peace. However, Palestinian terrorists who want to
obliterate the entire nation of Israel and ultra-Zionist Israelis who want to
acquire all Palestinian land in Gaza and the West Bank to create a larger
Israel seem to dominate leadership of the two groups.
Jerusalem could become an international city where Jews, Christians, and Muslims could all come together in peace to worship God. Perhaps a more pragmatic solution would be for Israelis to gradually legally buy the land from Christians, Muslims, and others as they become willing to sell it, then allow visitors.
During the late 1800s and the 1900s up until World War II, Jews legally purchased significant parts of Palestine, as noted in various sources including a United Nations document, “Acquisition of Land in Palestine” [5] and The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s article, “Land Ownership in Palestine,1880-1948." [6]
How
to Prevent War in General
Preventing
war isn’t easy or it would have been done already due to the enormous property
destruction, deaths, and injuries that war causes. But it isn’t impossible. We
can do it if we determine to do so.
A
key is to genuinely seek to end war, to genuinely seek to settle differences
fairly and peacefully.
Let’s
seek to eliminate or at least greatly reduce greed and selfishness. Teach persons,
beginning with their childhood, the importance of being truthful, being honest,
doing a fair share of work, and helping one another, including the needy who
can’t help themselves. Teach people to seek to resolve differences without
violence. Teach people to practice forgiveness for their own sakes as well as
for others.
Seeking
to listen to the viewpoints of other individuals and other nations and to learn
from them helps too. Also, more international travel, as well as modern
technology that helps translate languages eases cultural and national gaps, at
least in theory.
We
must be realistic though. The way the United States acquired land from Native
Americans is inexcusable. So is the way Israel was formed in 1948 by taking
land from Palestinians. However, it isn’t feasible to return the land to the
Native Americans or to the Palestinian landowners who lost their land in 1948.
Those
Native Americans and virtually all of those Palestinians have now passed on. But
treating their descendants fairly is realistic. This can include improving
conditions on Indian reservations, as well as in Gaza and the West Bank, in
addition to helping with the relocation of those who seek to do so.
The
existence of huge military arsenals under human control invites disaster. The
United States and Russia frequently abuse their military might against other countries for selfish material reasons (acquiring land and/or natural
resources, etc.). Finding a way to dramatically decrease military might and put
it in the control of unbiased, objective leaders who seek the best outcomes for
the overall situation is a worthy goal. An international military force under
the control of an improved and impartial United Nations could do much to hold
national military power in check.
We
also need to seek to present history accurately and to describe people fairly.
Religious intolerance and hatred of others is counter to the basic teachings of
most major religions. It violates the principle of the “golden rule” that many
major faiths incorporate in one form or another.
Too
often, in the name of patriotism, God, or manifest destiny, national leaders
seek to build up the pride of a nation or culture’s residents while demonizing
those who are different.
Regarding
Christians, even in World War II there were devout Christians on both sides.
Hitler’s German government had much support from “Christians” in the country.
As a Christian I wonder why we do not seek to love one another as Jesus and the
Apostle Paul taught and to hold fellow Christians (and ourselves) accountable
for failings?
We
as individual Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and followers of
other faiths or of no faith need to put basic moral standards that humanity
generally agrees on into practice and stop abuses. Masses of people of various cultures
and nations united to seek the best can do it.
The
international scientific community and the international medical community have
worked together to advance science and medicine. We humans need to unite in a
general way to combat famine, greed, ignorance, laziness, lying, pollution,
potable water shortages, selfishness, violence, and other problems.
If
people are contented and well cared for, there’s less likelihood they will
engage in war or other violent conflict. At least that’s my hope and viewpoint.
Let’s seek to progress toward attaining this. We can do it.
ENDNOTES:
[1] Wells, H.G.; “The War That Will End War”; 1914;
ebook version accessed on Project Gutenberg website; webpage accessed May 30,
2025; https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57481/57481-h/57481-h.htm
