The Main Causes Of War Essay, Research Paper
Wars are constantly being fought in the world. Bloodshed had taken place as top leaders ponder their every move in their game of victories and conquests. Behind each and every war that has taken place, there will always be a reason for it.
The most predominant causes are greed and rising ambitions. Greed is inborn and present in the character of every human being. Hence we can see unscrupulous leaders, at the expense of the people, go to wars as a result of their quest for power and territorial gains.
One example will be the recent internal strife in Angola, Africa. Foday Sankoh exploited the country’s natural resources—diamonds for his personal wealth, which resulted in the deaths of many innocent parties.
World War II was also started by Hitler’s rising demands for territorial gains, conquering states after states. Hence wars that were fought for personal gains are the most common.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) can step in here. In face of such unscrupulous leaders, the countries in the organisation can stop trading with them and place an international boycott on such countries. For example, Iraq was slapped with an international boycott whereby countries such as Britian, France and America refused to buy oil ffom them during the invasion of Kuwait in the nineties.
Next the fight for basic human rights is also one of the main reasons as to why wars were fought.
In some countries, citizens do not enjoy equal rights. Widespread discrimination of minority can easily spark wars. People may be denied of basic rights such as housing, education and opportunities of employment. Hence uprisings may occur. One example will be the conflict in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Tigers fight for the rights of the people and aim for a country whereby each and every citizen is given equal human rights.
Peace talks could be held to settle the differences. The government can also step in and give equal treatment to the citizens within the country. The people can be educated to treat everyone as their equals. Punishment can be meted out to offenders who discriminate the minority.
The next main reason of wars is ethnic differences present within a country. Intolerance towards a particular race could result in wars, especially so if one particular ethnic group is rich while the rest live in poverty. Jealously breeds quickly in such circumstances. To illustrate this point, ethnic differences between the Serbs and Bosnians was one of the reasons why the Bosnian War was started. Ethnic cleansing torn the country apart and lives of many were lost.
Tolerance will have to be preached within the country to prevent such instances from happening again. The people could be taught about each other’s race and the differences between each ethnic group can be closed. Open mindedness and exposure are key factors to curb such incidents. Steps have to be taken by the government to change the people’s mindset that each race is equal. Only then can the country move towards a common ground.
For example, Singapore was once plagued by racial riots. Education of the various races living in the country was introduced. This helped to settle the differences between the various community groups and hence curb racial riots.
One of the main reasons of wars will be religious difference present within a country. In tolerance towards a particular religion can sparked off wars. More often than not, a particular religious group of people may consider themselves to be superior to the rest. Such arrogance can be deadly.
To emphasize the point above, the recent conflict between Catholics and Protestants will be one example. Catholics, being the minority in Northern Ireland, were oppressed and prosecuted. Hence, they were forced to turn to the Irish Republican Army for protection. Hence, besides different political stands, the war between IRA and the British government was fought also due to religious differences. Once again, tolerance towards a particular religion has to be practised.
Singapore consists of very diverse culture and religious practices. In the country, one can see different places of worship and in addition, everyone in Singapore celebrates religious holidays. This is one good example whereby people of different beliefs systems are able to get along with each other in harmony.
In conclusion, wars are fought for many various reasons. As long as human beings exist, wars will continue to be fought. Controversial issues as mentioned above cannot be resolved easily and hence conflicts will still arise as countries continue to revolutionise and change.