On The Realism of War -- Why Wars Exists and How to Achieve World Peace

(Background music)

(Philosocom's Directory on Politics)

In a world where self-interest overcomes the will to cooperate, where the quest for more power triumphs harmony, and where people are unwilling to get over their differences and work for a better world -- wars will always be part of modern-day reality.

Wars exist because people compete for resources and dominance on the global stage. Peace is not an option for as long as countries and organizations will prioritize self-interest over greater cooperation with one another. In addition, wars will continue as long as nations and organizations will not realize, that greater cooperation is within their self-interest in the first place.

For peace to be acquired, leaders and the common people as once, need to overcome their differences, understand that global peace is within the interest of everyone -- including themselves -- and stop prioritizing short-term self-interest alone.

Global peace is within the interest of everyone because wars take a toll on nations and on human lives. War becomes an option because nations and organizations seek not to cooperate but to dominate. As long as domination is within self-interest, wars will persevere.

If we want to prevent wars, we need to prioritize mutual cooperation instead of dominance. We need to overcome the self, and be willing to strive for mutual partnerships and alliances over enemies. As long as there are enemies, as long as we are willing to have enemies instead of turning them into allies, wars will persevere. To overcome wars, we need to overcome the desire to eliminate our neighbours and to view them with hostility.

We need to lower our egos, lower our tendencies for aggression, for the sake of a better future. But as long as we seek to eliminate one another, as long as we seek to have revenge for attacks, and as long as we are unable to forgive our enemies for the suffering they have caused us, wars and conflicts will persevere.

We, as humans and as nations, should be able to forgive our way into world peace, knowing that world peace is the interest of humanity as a whole. We should be able to overcome the ego and be willing to shift our perception of our enemies as such. In other words, if we want a change, we should be willing to no longer see our enemies as enemies, but as future allies for a better world.

Furthermore, for the damage we have caused to others, we should be able to apologize, and to move on from said damage. That is true both on the interpersonal and on the international levels.

However, as long as we won't forgive and won't forget, as long as we are willing to view hostility as legitimate, there shall never be world peace, and people and nations will keep fighting each other.

To be able to reach peace, we need to see vulnerability not as weakness but as a power of its own. To be willing to host one another, to be willing to trust one another, we need to lower our defenses, not see the other person as threatening but as a future partner for cooperation, and so on. However, such sacrifice is something very few people are willing to make, because in order to reduce hostility between factions, you need to be willing to trust the other side, contain them and accept their legitimacy.

And yet, to do that, one also should overcome their ego -- their personal ego, their national ego, and all other kinds of pride. That's because pride blinds, and in order to build a better world, we need to see a different vision. A vision where it is not weakness to apologize for misdeeds, a vision where it is not betrayal to make peace with people and factions who currently stand as enemies, and where it is not shameful to express regret for a history of brutality, violence and hostility.

To be vulnerable like that, requires a strength most nations do not have. To take responsibility for suffering caused, and be willing to apologize for it, requires virtue most nations do not have.

To reach world peace, that requires taking a lot of risks that would compromise the defense and security of nations. To be willing to lower one's arms, and shake hands, without the fear of getting stabbed by current enemies, that requires strength and risk many leaders in our world do not have, and are not willing to make. To be willing to accept an enemy for a potential ally while forgiving them for their past misdeeds and harms, requires the ability to see said misdeeds as forgivable.

Yet, as long as we will see the past misdeeds of people and nations as unforgivable, hatred will continue to grow, mistrust will continue to prosper, and the potential risk of wars will only rise.

To prevent wars, we need to be able to redeem ourselves in the eyes of our enemies, and forgive our enemies for their misdeeds, while also being able to express regret for what we did to them. Hostilities exist because of the actions of at least two sides. To be able to forgive for said actions, in a way that is mutual, requires the understanding that long term harmony is within the interest of everyone involved.

However, for as long as there is no partner/s for such talks, for such diplomacy, the potential risk of war will always exist, hostility will always exist, and the strength to overcome said hostility will be exceptionally rare.

Why is world peace the interest of everyone? Because peace and prosperity are mutually connected. If we want a more prosperous world, we need to give peace a chance, we need to put our differences aside, overcome the hostilities created by past activities, and be willing to move on from our hurt state into a peaceful and prosperous, global future.

Yet, war is a realistic feature in our world because we are hurt, and we are using this hurt state to hurt back those who caused us said hurt, in an infinite loop. To achieve world peace, we need to grow up from our hurt state, and be willing to forgive our current enemies for hurting us, and put the damage they have done aside. Furthermore, they should be willing to do the same, if we hurt them.

Why should we do it? Because that is the only key to long-term peace. To be willing to be hurt without hurting back, while forgiving being hurt, is how you prevent a future of war and hostility with that side.

As long as either side is willing to hurt the other side after forgiveness has been made, the potential risk of war is always a potential.

And on the national level, that is harder to maintain than on the individual level. That is because nations are capable of damage bigger than any damage a single individual can make to others. Forgiving an individual is easier than forgiving an entire nation or organization because people have their limits to what is forgivable and to what is unforgivable.

To be able to at least consider forgiving for what would currently stand as unforgivable, requires strength most people -- and nations -- do not have.

In conclusion, if we want a better world, if we want world peace, we should not be so hasty to give rivalry a chance, far more than harmony and cooperation. And the same applies to hostility instead of friendship, the desire to hurt for being hurt over the global interest of peace, and the ability to forgive over the temptation for hatred and revenge.

Furthermore, to have peace, that requires the ability to form partnerships even with the most hatred of enemies. It is a strength very few people have, let alone entire nations.

However, should that underrated strength be formed -- the strength to be vulnerable and forgiving -- only then would peace have a more realistic chance to be formed, and let alone -- world peace.