Jan 15th: Session 2

1/15/09 PART I: THE NATURE OF WAR Session 2: Basic Myth-busting (Blainey Chapters 1 & 2) War: what a good explanation of War should look like through according to Blainey ?the causes of war and peace should dovetail one another:? they are the outcomes of a similar purpose Most wars won by the side that started it; most wars are ended through treaty, not necessarily by the winning side completely conquering the other War is a conscious departure from peace (and vice versa) Purposive: explaining wars for a purpose Fighting for an positive, preferable outcome; a favorable, desirable peace after the war Mutual: not only purposive, but also mutual Europe and Blainey Periods after Napoleonic War and WWII had long periods of peace, Why? War Weariness: war exhaust people, get tired of war, but the next generation that is not exposed to war, become more war hungry Critique: only one example, in one century; time between WWI, WWII; human nature is constant, does not change quickly War is contagious, tend to cluster in periods of time; more likely to follow one another in quick secession Idle Hands: if people have nothing productive to do, they fight each other; war as a result of boredom Critique: US in the 60s; industrialization, racial riots, still had time for Vietnam; US in Civil War, developing rapidly, yet fought each other, most US deaths in a war in history UK during its industrialization still had time to fight other nations in Europe ?Civilization:? the more they speak the same language, knowledge of each other, cultivated ideas leads to peace; all about misunderstandings Critique: Europe; people of the same religion have fought one another, just as likely to fight one another as people of different religions; more likely to fight your neighbors than someone far away; Civil War Civilized people do not fight each other, ?barbarians? must be involved Treaties and Promoting Peace Non-repressive ones promote peace After light treaties decades of peace ensues Treaty of Versailles: Germany forced to admit guilt to the start of the war, pay reparations to the other countries involved, lost territory Keynes: The Economic Consequences of Peace Fundamental problems with the global economy that were heading towards a global recession that were reflected in the Treaty of Versailles, but not a direct result of Treaty after WWII was much worse than Versailles; split into 2, capital is divided; militarily occupied; has not fought a war since; but was defeated more decisively Japan also treated extremely harsh; no offensive military Frequently harsh treaties are linked to periods of long peace Commerce: Peace between Trade and Connection, Communication* People began to get more of what they want through trading than through war Critique: connection can make wars easier, benefits of trade with a nation worth fighting over, these are results of peace, no causes of peace (not as simple as Blainey introduces, will com back to this) Wars are far more destructive, costly due to the ability to develop better weapons; WMDs World War I People did not think that the war was going to last for a long period of time; all civilized nations, citizens were eventually going to protest the war Less costly the war appears, the more attractive it becomes Lottery Players Fallacy The outcome of any war is uncertain; therefore the decision to go to war cannot be based upon the outcome that occurs; should not be explained by the outcome, but rather the reasons at the time Conclusion The Structure of a Good Explanation of War/Peace War and Peace is a joint decision; takes two to fight Consciously leave peace to go war, leave war to go to peace War is mutual and purposive