Friday, September 18, 2009
What is War
By definition of War from Dictionary.com, war is "a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air" [1]. But in my opinion, it does not necessarily have to be by land, sea or air. It could be fought by threats. Take the Cold War for example. Technically, the Cold War was not necessarily a "war" but threats between the USSR and the United States. The Cold War came about because of increasing tensions between the countries because of nuclear weapon threats. Hence the nickname the "Hot War". The Cold War was more of a verbal conflict. The United States and the USSR were more or less were trying to make each other look foolish. Threatening to denounce each others countries [2]. During this time period, the United States took extra precautions, in the event of a nuclear attack. Children would do drills in school in case of a bomb attack, hiding under desks (as if that were to do anything). This brings me to a more contemporary topic. On June 19, 2009, North Korean intelligence officials stated that they were planning on launching a Taepodong-2 which can cover over 4000 miles on Independence Day [3]. North Korea was planning for this missile to hit Hawaii. As we all know, this never happened, but it was alarming to many Americans, especially citizens of Hawaii. This goes under the idea that not all wars have to be violent conflicts. If the missile was to be launched, then im certain the United States would take the appropriate actions, that could have quite possibly led into a war with North Korea, but it didn't. Which shows that you can verbally threaten and it could be considered a form of war. Right now, America does not have the greatest relations with North Korea, which leads me to believe that it is not impossible, although it is unfortunate, that we could very well get involved in a war with North Korea if they do not do something about the excessive number of nuclear weapons that they are currently in possession of. After this verbal threat from North Korea, America took the proper steps as to securing anti- missile defenses around the small state of Hawaii. It is also known that 3 years ago, North Korea fired a missile at Hawaii and it was unsuccessful. The fact that the first time they were unsuccessful, but now they are trying again certainly sends a threatening message to the United States of America. The way technology is growing certainly makes it possible for North Korea to fire missiles at America. The Cold War and the situation in North Korea certainly could be considered wars. Although the definition may disagree. War could be without direct conflict. Which leads me to the answer of what war is. War is any altercation, or disagreement between two parties, whether it is verbal fighting, or physical.
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I know I'm supposed to create a new post and all but my old account decided to stop working and so after failing to gain membership I decided to just post my response as a comment.
ReplyDeleteWhat is war?
War, at first thought, seems to be a military clash between two great nations, each trying to best the other in both troop number and technological prowess. When thinking about the question “What is war?” I first envision intense conflicts such as the Punic Wars , the American Civil War, and the World War I and II. However I also believe war does not necessarily have to be on such a huge scale, it can be found in even the most unassuming of places. War could be the conflict between cyber-terrorists and world police forces, it could be the retaliatory drive-by's of rival gangs, it could even be the animosity between a small child and the neighborhood bullies. War, as I see it, is any prolonged conflict that manifests itself in physical confrontation and contact . This definition could create some rather controversial issues, there are many encounters and relationships that I would consider “wars” that few others would and many others the general public does acknowledge but I would not. A prime example of a conflict I would not consider a war is the conflict between the US and the former Soviet Union commonly known as the Cold War. The Cold War was the rising level of alertness and political fear, military tension, and economic competition that began after World War II and, according to many, ended in 1991 as the Soviet Union fell (others maintain that it still continues to this day, albeit in a more hidden and disguised manner, it is an issue which is extensive enough to be the subject of its own prompt). after World War II the US. Military forces never officially clashed, the conflict was seen in military alliances, strategic force deployments, the nuclear arms race, espionage, propaganda, and the Space Race. Because military forces never clashed, and no resounding physical encounter occurred this should not be considered a war, rather it should be seen as a political and economic clash. By this logic I would consider the conflict in Vietnam between 1950 and 1973 a war, even though no declarations of war were ever drafted or presented and it is not technically considered a war. The United States never officially declared war on the Vietnamese during the conflict, however intense fighting was seen for years, resulting in the death of approximately 57,000 Americans, 150,000 American injured and estimated losses of up to three million casualties for the Vietnamese. The prolonged nature and fierce fighting warrant it the title of a war, even considering that war was never officially declared. A much smaller scale issue I would consider a war yet many would not would be the ongoing conflict between cyber-terrorists and policing forces such as the FBI and Scotland Yard. This conflict has been ongoing for the past several years, and has resulted not only in enormous monetary losses by victim financial corporations but also disruptive attacks on databanks and has resulted in corresponding raids and arrests. Because of these physical encounters by opposing forces it can be considered a war, albeit one on a lesser scale then the more major wars of the world.
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/coldwar.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cold_war.htm
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1583
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003973.html
In Response to Mary,
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to provide blanket statements covering multitudes of outcomes. I hesitate, however to state war as any altercation, physical or verbal between any two countries. It seems to me that under this model, wars would be fought daily on the floor of the UN. The status of a conflict as “war” should not be taken lightly in any context. Wars bring along with their definition as an armed conflict a connotation of pain and suffering associated with the loss of loved ones, the destruction of property, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The definition of war, when used broadly, does not always include the connotation of suffering associated. If one defines war as a simple conflict, leaving out the connotation of suffering, then that borders on using war as a justification for excessive nationalism. When any slight against one’s nation is met with condemnation as an act of war, it becomes impossible on an international level to criticize large nations such as the United States. While North Korea’s missile testing should be treated with an appropriate level of caution, it seems inconceivable to go as far to say that there is an armed conflict with North Korea existing within the current international atmosphere. Wars should be entered at the gravest end of necessity, not at the first sign of disagreement. By simplifying the definition of war it would only be easier to start a war, whereas the entire purpose of international politics is to avoid war. Even with a change in definition, war remains no less serious of an affair. However, if war is defined as even a verbal conflict, countries need to watch what they say because God forbid they start a war.
Dave C.
Interesting comment, Dave. I agree, as did Saint Augustine in attempting to justify the use of force--it should ALWAYS be the LAST resort.
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