Nations can overtly aggress on other states {war}|.
causes
Wars can result from competition for scarce resources, usually when aggressive leaders want neighboring-country resources. War can result when countries want to reverse or punish another government's illegal action or unjust legal action.
factors
War decisions consider objectives, means, strategy, tactics, morals, war rules, defeat or victory probability, defeat or victory consequences, third-party effects, and negotiations. War has high risk of defeat or resource exhaustion.
strategy
Strategy requires using knowledge of enemy to neutralize weapons and resources in short and long term.
alternatives
States engage in international relations, diplomacy, negotiations, and war to try to achieve goals. War is adjunct to, or extension of, aggressive international relations and diplomacy. Negotiations precede and follow all wars and often accompany wars. Both war and negotiation are trials of strength between countries.
winning
Countries with larger size, higher technology, more wealth, more freedom, more emotion, and stronger economic systems tend to win at war and negotiations. To reach victory in war, countries must diminish opponent physical and moral force sufficiently so it will surrender or negotiate.
time
War cannot last indefinitely, because resources become exhausted and people grow weary of constant fear, emotion, aggressive impulses, and death. War length depends on overt aggressive behavior, available resources, and people's will. War can lead to negotiation when both countries' physical and moral force diminishes sufficiently.
effects
War is costly in resources and people, polarizes people and groups, causes less rule of law, reduces liberties, increases authoritarianism, adds grievances and injustices, increases hatred and anger, adds uncertainty and risk to all activities, increases alliances with corrupt and authoritarian regimes, strains relations between partners, reduces ideas and cultural diversity, disrupts markets, and neglects education, social services, and crime-fighting. Politics typically takes major turn as peace replaces war. Society takes time to recover old habits and ideas and typically takes several years to return to normalcy. During those years, there is less employment, more crime, more stress on people and families, and low basic resources.
At war end, both sides have exhaustion and low resources. Tight economic conditions harm many people.
War encourages less rule of law. Civil liberties decrease and due process decreases. Authoritarianism increases. War causes more grievances and injustices.
War removes the high moral ground from a country, bringing it to same level as adversary. War thus erodes moral authority, and this can affect ability to lead.
War always causes secondary effects, typically bad, since many people have relations to people affected by war.
War focuses people's concentration against identified enemy. People neglect intellectual pursuits, at cost to culture.
People can use the name of religion to broaden conflict.
effects: polarization
War is polarizing. Polarization tends to lead to future conflict and aggravates current conflicts.
effects: hate
After war, many soldiers and fallen-warrior relatives remain. Hatred for enemy, and anger at suffering, linger long after war, posing danger of new uprising, sabotage, terrorism, and mental-health problems. War makes more people, groups, and nations angry and vengeful. War sows seeds of more war. War cannot eliminate all warriors.
justifications
Ethicists allow justified war {just war}. In just war, military makes defense commensurate with offense. Just war has support from majority of citizens. Just war can reduce human suffering, conserve resources, and reduce costs in the future. War can recover justice, equal opportunity, rule of law, and freedom.
Social Sciences>Political Science>International Relations>Power>Aggression
6-Political Science-International Relations-Power-Aggression
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Date Modified: 2022.0224