Conflicts between groups of people are as old as humanity itself. However, war is probably the worst thing human beings do. Millions of people throughout history have died in wars and modern wars are enormously destructive. Many people dream of a world without war, but could this really happen? Can war actually be stopped?
War cannot be stopped. Conflicts have been fought between people for as long as human history. Although efforts can be made to reduce war, end ongoing conflicts, and reduce the impact of wars, it is not possible to completely put an end to violent conflict.
…but that’s just an overview. To fully understand if war can be stopped, we need to look in more detail.
Why Should We Stop War?
If we are going to discuss if an end can be put to war, we first need to think about why it might be beneficial to work towards a world where there is no more conflict. Really, there are four main reasons why we should stop war all together. These are:
- Stop people dying in conflicts
- End the destruction caused by wars
- Allow countries to reduce military spending
- Create a more peaceful world
Let’s go over each of these…
Stop People Dying In Conflicts
A first reason why we should stop war is to put an end to people dying in conflicts. Millions of people have died in wars throughout history. Today, hundreds of thousands of people a year are killed in violent conflicts. It is not only soldiers that die in wars, but huge numbers of innocent civilians are killed in conflicts. Stopping war would save huge numbers of lives.
End The Destruction Caused By Wars
A second reason why we should stop war is to end the destruction that war causes. Fighting between armies causes huge amounts of damage. Houses, businesses, infrastructure, and crops are all destroyed by fighting. If we end war, we could prevent a huge amount of destruction.
Allow Countries To Reduce Military Spending
A third reason why war should be stopped is because countries spend enormous amounts on their militaries and ending war would allow them to spend this money elsewhere.
Total global expenditure on defence reached 2.1 trillion dollars in 2021. Lage countries, such as the US. China, India, and Russia, spend trillions of dollars a year on armaments preparing for war. Even the poorest countries in the world devote significant amounts of their government revenue on their armed forces. If war was stopped, then every country in the world could spend this money on public services that do good, like education, healthcare, and assistance to the poor.
Create A More Peaceful World
A final reason why we should stop war is because it would create a more peaceful world. Peace is vital for people to live happy and free lives. It’s also key to economic development and lifting people out of poverty. If we ended war all together, millions more people around the world could live in peace.
Why Cant We Stop Wars?
World peace sounds like an amazing thing. Imagine a world where people didn’t die in wars and without the destruction caused by conflicts. Attempts have been made throughout history to stop wars or introduce international laws to try and discourage countries from starting wars. However, it has not been possible to completely end war. Why is this? Well, there are five main reasons:
- Cannot end economic inequalities
- Cannot remove the differences between people
- Impossible for resolve all territorial disputes
- War is ingrained in human nature
- Some people will always resort to war
Let’s take a quick look at each of these…
Cannot End Economic Inequalities
A first reason why we can’t stop wars is because we cannot end the economic inequalities that are often the root causes of conflicts. The world will always be an unequal place. This means there will always be one group of people who see their position as disadvantaged, or who seek to take resources from another group, and so start a war. Without ending economic inequality completely, we cannot stop wars.
Cannot Remove The Differences Between People
A second reason why we cannot stop wars is because we cannot eradicate the differences between people. Another root cause of many wars is different ethnic, religious, linguistic, or cultural groups fighting for supremacy. As the world will always have differences between peoples, there will also be conflict.
Impossible For Resolve All Territorial Disputes
A third reason why we can’t stop wars is because we cannot resolve all the territorial disputes in the world. There are currently 170 claims between nations where one country insists the land of another is there’s. Some areas are contested by several nations. Territorial disputes are one of the leading causes of conflicts, as countries go to war to seize the land they believe should be there’s by force. As it is not possible to solve all land disputes, it is also not possible to stop every war.
War Is Ingrained In Human Nature
Another reason why we can’t stop wars is because violence and conflict are as old as human beings themselves. Many believe that war is ingrained in human nature – that there is an enate part of humanity that seeks destruction and violence and is willing to use force to dominate other peoples and groups. Essentially, there will also be war because it’s part of what human beings do. We can’t stop all wars because we can’t change the core tenants of the human race.
Some People Will Always Resort To War
A final reason why we can’t stop wars is because there will always be some people who will use violence to achieve their aims. There is no way to create a world where violence is not seen as one way for a group to dominate another, to achieve economic or material superiority or to take revenge. Whilst there are always those willing to resort to conflict, it will be impossible to stop all wars.
How War Can Be Stopped?
So, we know why we should put an end to war, and why so far humanity has failed to end human conflict, but let’s look now at how it might be possible to stop war all together. There are four main ways this could be done:
- Stronger international laws
- Powerful nations intervening to prevent conflicts
- Economic incentives to stop wars
- Full isolation for countries that begin conflicts
Now we’ll look at each of these in-turn…
Stronger International Laws
One way that wars could be stopped is through stronger international laws. There are already laws in place that many nations have signed-up to that make acts such as wars of aggression, genocides, and crimes against humanity illegal. However, these laws are often impossible to enforce, and perpetrators of wars are rarely brought to justice. If international law was strengthened, and more countries were willing, or compelled, to abide by it, then some wars could be stopped.
Powerful Nations Intervening To Prevent Conflicts
Another way that war can be stopped is if more powerful nations were willing to intervene to prevent or end conflicts. Weaker nations would be less likely to go to war if they knew stronger countries would take action against them if they did. The problem with this is that outside interventions into conflicts that often exacerbated, not ended, wars. However, intervention by a group of powerful nation working together could end some conflicts.
Economic Incentives To Stop Wars
A further way that war can be stopped is by incentivising nations not to go to war. Providing economic assistance, or even financial aid, to countries that didn’t begin conflicts could help prevent some wars. Offering economic aid to countries to end wars could also bring conflicts to a close. However, not all nations would willing accept financial or material incentives to stop wars, and other countries are not always willing to provide the economic assistance needed.
Full Isolation For Countries That Begin Conflicts
A final way that war can be stopped is by isolating countries that start wars. This method of preventing of ending wars has become more common in recent decades, with sanctions applied to countries that are seen as aggressive instigators of conflict. However, these sanctions often fail as there is not global unity in their enforcement. If a complete global sanctions regime could be implemented, and upheld, to completely isolate countries that started wars, it might be possible to prevent some conflicts.
How To Abolish War?
Now we know that how conflicts might be stopped, lets think about how we might abolish war. This is not the same thing as just creating a world where there is no war – abolishment would mean putting frameworks in place that meant no nation could go to war, even if they tried.
There is no way to abolish war. Although efforts to improve international law, strengthen sanctions on countries that begin conflicts and launch interventions into ongoing wars to bring them to an end can help reduce the number of conflicts, it is not possible to formally put an end to war.
Collins English Dictionary defines abolishment as:
”formally put an end to (a system, practice, or institution).”
Collins English Dictionary, 2022
The main difference between abolishing something and simply stopping it is that abolishment means the complete and formal ending of a practice. To abolish war, humanity would need to agree that war was no longer allowed. Systems would need to be put in place to prevent countries that did want to go to war from doing so. This is impossible to do. There are no international mechanisms, nor the global political will, to officially abolish war. It simply cannot be done.
How Can War Be Destroyed?
War is by the far the most destructive thing humans do. It destroys lives, as well as homes, businesses, infrastructure, and economies. But if war is so destructive, what if we tried to destroy war? Would this even be possible? And if so, how could it be done?
War cannot be destroyed. It is not possible to put war out of existence. Human beings have always fought wars, and although efforts can be made to reduce the number of conflicts, and end ongoing wars, there is no way to eradicate war entirely.
The word destroy is defined as:
”the act or process of damaging something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.”
Britannica, 2022
Taking this definition, in order to destroy war humanity would need to take action to damage the both the idea of conflict and every nation’s ability to physically wage war. This would be impossible.
The idea of fighting a war is as old as human beings themselves. There is essentially nothing that humanity could do to damage the fundamental idea that violence is one way for people to resolve their differences or achieve their aims.
As well as there being no way for humanity to destroy the idea of war, it would also be impossible for people to destroy every nations capacity to wage war. Almost no country would willingly give up their armed forces or destroy their military equipment. Forcing countries to do this would only result in an enormous war as nations resisted attempts to take their militaries away by force.