War is one of the most perennial concepts in the history of
International Relations. War has been an omnipresent occurrence throughout the
different epochs of history. While war has its roots deeply encrusted into the
realms of this field, what many still don’t know and what seems to be a concept
which remains unanswered is that what really is the main cause of war? Is it
the man, the state or the system?
Even though man and the state play their own parts, it is
the suffocating international system, which causes most of the wars. Whether it
is the constant security dilemma that the states face in the international
system, or whether as Realists claim the international system to be full of
anarchy and chaos, the system trumps the other two factors when it comes to war
being blamed on the system.
Great power wars are also caused due to the polarity in the
International system. Whether the international system is a bipolar system or a
multipolar system, the level of polarity shows how spread out the power in the
international system is. According to
leading theorists Waltz and Mershiemer, if the two most powerful nations in the
system are balanced in their power, there will be no wars, however as soon as
the balance of power, which is an another important concept in international
relations, shifts from one state to another in the system, war is more likely
to occur.
Thus even though the man and domestic state system also play
a part with man’s inherently evil nature and the state carrying out its
domestic actions in the international system, I still believe that it is the
nature of the system which leads to war and anarchy.
2 comments:
You are right. The international system is itself the biggest cause of wars.
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