I'm generally a pacifist, but wars aren't always negative sum. Voigtländer and Voth's "Gifts of Mars: Warfare and Europe’s Early Rise to Riches" argues that one reason for Europe's success was its constant warfare. War itself killed people. The associated displacement transmitted disease that killed even more people. This kept Europe awa…
I'm generally a pacifist, but wars aren't always negative sum. Voigtländer and Voth's "Gifts of Mars: Warfare and Europe’s Early Rise to Riches" argues that one reason for Europe's success was its constant warfare. War itself killed people. The associated displacement transmitted disease that killed even more people. This kept Europe away from any Malthusian maximum and led, in the long term, to a wealthier society. I'm not 100% sold, but it's food for thought.
Wars can be both disasters and important drivers of progress. Modern warfare especially requires an alignment of the elite and the populace, so it can force the elite to offer the general population a better deal when faced with potential destruction and replacement by another elite. Modern wars also drive technology, and they put money in the hands of a broader spectrum of the population. War may be a failure of the elite, but it is also a countervailing force.
Wars can be decisive. Was the American South going to remain a slaving society? Were fascism and its kin superior systems destined to rule the world? Could an East Asian island nation build an empire in the manner of the European great powers? Who will rule China? The unfortunate fact is that violence works. Moral victories are wonderful, but they aren't necessarily victories. I think it is wonderful when important things can be decided without military action, but sometimes a war can answer important questions.
Wars inflict horrors. They have their own horrible logic. Once engaged, they are beyond peace and diplomacy. Crossing the Rubicon wasn't just a metaphor. Crossing a certain line takes one into a different realm of logic such as it is. Look at the Vikings and their tales of endless feuds with their cause lost in time but still ruling the fate of the living. Before crossing that line, it pays to investigate the alternatives, but sometimes there is little choice but to roll the bones.
I'm generally a pacifist, but wars aren't always negative sum. Voigtländer and Voth's "Gifts of Mars: Warfare and Europe’s Early Rise to Riches" argues that one reason for Europe's success was its constant warfare. War itself killed people. The associated displacement transmitted disease that killed even more people. This kept Europe away from any Malthusian maximum and led, in the long term, to a wealthier society. I'm not 100% sold, but it's food for thought.
Wars can be both disasters and important drivers of progress. Modern warfare especially requires an alignment of the elite and the populace, so it can force the elite to offer the general population a better deal when faced with potential destruction and replacement by another elite. Modern wars also drive technology, and they put money in the hands of a broader spectrum of the population. War may be a failure of the elite, but it is also a countervailing force.
Wars can be decisive. Was the American South going to remain a slaving society? Were fascism and its kin superior systems destined to rule the world? Could an East Asian island nation build an empire in the manner of the European great powers? Who will rule China? The unfortunate fact is that violence works. Moral victories are wonderful, but they aren't necessarily victories. I think it is wonderful when important things can be decided without military action, but sometimes a war can answer important questions.
Wars inflict horrors. They have their own horrible logic. Once engaged, they are beyond peace and diplomacy. Crossing the Rubicon wasn't just a metaphor. Crossing a certain line takes one into a different realm of logic such as it is. Look at the Vikings and their tales of endless feuds with their cause lost in time but still ruling the fate of the living. Before crossing that line, it pays to investigate the alternatives, but sometimes there is little choice but to roll the bones.