Challenging the War System

Chapter 7
Discussion on the:

1. Possible Causes of
War
2. The Effects of War
3. Mitigating the Effects
of War
4. Peace Education and
the War System
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 WA From the Frankish-German word “werra”,
which means confusion, discord, or strife.

R
An actual, intentional and widespread armed
conflict between political communities.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

TREY
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 War is classical or international if it is
between states, or civil or internal, if it occurs
between rival groups or communities within a
state. SEP notes that non-state actors may be
considered “political communities,” since
they have a political purpose.
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 - Aggression and major armed conflicts are interchangeably used with
the word “war”.
- Aggression
• defined by the United Nations as the use of armed force by a State
against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political
independence of another State, or in any other manner (www.un-
documents.net).
- Major armed conflict
• defined by Project Ploughshares (2006) as a political conflict in
which armed fighting involves the armed forces of at least one state
(or one or more armed factions seeking to gain control of all or part
of the state), and in which 1,000 people have been killed by the 5
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warfare during the course of the conflict. TREY
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 What causes war?
- There are people who believe that the human person is the cause of war
accepting as true the contention that aggression is an innate instinct.
- The contention that aggression is an unavoidable feature of human nature
is put forward by both Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz (Krahe, in Semin and
Fiedler, 1996).
- This contention, however, was challenged by the “Seville Statement on
Violence” endorsed by UNESCO (www.portal.unesco.org). This statement
explains that war or any other violent behavior is not genetically programmed
into our human nature. The statement puts forward that “violence is neither in
our evolutionary legacy nor in our genes” and that “how we act is shaped by
how we have been conditioned and socialized.”
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1. Possible Causes of War
a. Territorial disputes
- have been regarded as the more common causes of war.
- Huth (1998) defines territorial disputes as the disagreement between states
or groups within a state over where their homeland or borders should be
fixed.
- It also pertains to the challenge a country poses over the right of another to
exercise sovereignty over some or its entire homeland.
- The most notable territorial dispute in history would be that between Israel
and Palestine. Other examples of contests in territory include those waged by
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines and by the separatists in
the Basque, Spain. Territorial disputes are often tied with the quest for
independence or sovereignty as what the Chechens pursue in Russia.
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1. Possible Causes of War

b. A lack of tolerance for differences

- is an emerging source of conflicts.
- Differences may be in nationality, clan membership, ethnicity or
religious affiliation. Oftentimes, though, differences only aggravate an
ongoing conflict which is normally caused by other factors such as land
disputes and political or economic repression.
- The tension between the Tutsis and the Hutus in Africa goes back to
a history of colonialism where one party felt aggrieved.

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1. Possible Causes of War

c. Ideological or power struggles

- are sources of war in various countries.
- An ideology is a set of beliefs which serves as guide on how power
should be allocated or how a society should function.
- We see many groups challenging the status quo, with non-state
armed groups or power holders believing that the political ideology each
one has would work better for the population. The wars waged by the
Maoists in Nepal, the Shining Path in Peru, and the Communist Party in
the Philippines – New Peoples’ Army are examples of ideological wars.
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 The Penguin Atlas of War and Peace (2003)
indicates that wars today are concentrated in
the poorest countries. Of the countries classified
by the United Nations Human Development
Report as showing low development, 56%
experienced civil wars in 1997–2001
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1. Possible Causes of War

d. A history of colonialism and the process of

decolonization
- Often, the transfer of power becomes problematic with
groups within the country competing for control and authority.
- In Africa, widespread fighting indicates that the people
have not fully recovered from the experience. Many countries
in the continent have internal or civil wars. Sudan and the
Democratic Republic of Congo are examples of countries in
Africa that are experiencing long- running battles. 11
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1. Possible Causes of War

e. Competition for resources, extreme abuse of human

rights, desire of leaders to stay in power, narrow or
extreme nationalism, and sympathy for kin across borders.
- The competition to fill power vacuums, political and
economic legacies of the Cold War, and the ready availability
of weapons are also identified as factors that can heighten
violence (Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly
Conflict, 1997).
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2. The Effects of War
a. The most horrible effect of war is death.
- WHO (2002) reports that one person die every 100 seconds
each day as a result of armed violence.
- The Penguin Atlas of War and Peace (2003) indicates that
approximately 75% of those killed in wars today are civilians
or non-combatants. Other sources estimate civilian deaths to
even be higher, i.e., as many as 90% casualties. According to
UNICEF, “civilian fatalities in wartime have climbed from 5%
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at the turn of the century…to more than 90% in the warsTREY
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2. The Effects of War
b. Wars also result in the commitment of atrocities
- acts that go beyond what is tolerable because of the commonly held notion
that in war, anything goes.
- Massacres, tortures, disappearances, sexual violence including rape,
executions, assassinations, bombing, burning and kidnapping, are examples
of atrocious acts. In Rwanda in 1994, 800,000 people were killed in six
weeks, and many women who survived the genocide were raped (Penguin
Atlas, 2003). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the International
Rescue Committee had registered 40,000 cases of gender-based violence
since 2003 (International Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of
Armed Forces, 2007).
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2. The Effects of War
c. Wars also cause people to flee their homes.
At the end of the 20th century, there were approximately 40 million people
who left their homes to become refugees abroad or in their own countries for
fear of war and persecution (Penguin Atlas, 2003). The International
Organization for Migration reported that the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees placed the number of refugees in 2009 at 15.2 million while the
Norwe- gian Refugee Council placed the number of internally displaced
persons at 27 million by the end of 2009. In Iraq, more than 4.4 million Iraqis
have left their homes since 2003; more than 2 million are internally dis-
placed and more than 2 million went to neighboring countries (Christian
Peace Witness for Iraq, 2008). 15
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2. The Effects of War
d. Wars cause weapons to proliferate.
The total number of identified nuclear weapons in the world is 26,000
of which 12,000 are actively deployed (NGO Committee on
Disarmament, 2007) with nine known countries in possession. The
threat of use of nuclear weapons has increased in recent years. The issue
of landmines is another concern. Landmines can remain active long after
the war is over. Every month, more than two thousand people are killed
or maimed by landmine explosions, and most of those killed are
civilians (Hague Appeal for Peace, n.d.).
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2. The Effects of War

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2. The Effects of War
e. Wars hold back development
- as huge amounts of government budgets are
allocated for defense.
- Hence, large segments of population are
deprived of services as basic as health and
education because the money is siphoned off by
war or preparations for it
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2. The Effects of War
f. Wars see children tread the battle zones
instead of play areas.
- The Penguin Atlas (2003) reported that over
300,000 children, defined as below the age of 18,
are fighting in wars around the world. Recruitment
is often by force.
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2. The Effects of War
g. Wars have many other consequences.
- People lose their livelihoods and their access to food
supply.
- Wars cause the loss of investments; destroy property
and the environment, and raze opportunities for tourism.
- More so, wars disrupt children’s’ education, and
create fear and trauma among the population.
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3. Mitigating the Effects of War
- The work of international institutions like the United Nations is helping mitigate the
effects of war. As the lead mechanism for armed conflict prevention, management and
resolution, the UN does both peacebuilding, peacemaking and peacekeeping work.
- Peacebuilding is action to strengthen and solidify a political settlement to avoid a
return to the conflict (SIPRI-UNESCO, 1998)
- The UN also helps resolve conflicts and disputes through negotiations and
mediation. It has led in the brokering of peace in many nations and succeeded in having
peace agreements signed in many troubled corners of the world.
- The UN also maintains peacekeeping operations. Peacekeeping is the use of
impartial personnel to help warring parties prevent, manage or resolve conflicts (SIPRI-
UNESCO, 1998).
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3. Mitigating the Effects of War
- Various other international organizations and movements operate to prevent, manage,
and resolve violent conflicts.
- Non-government organizations are also deeply engaged in mitigating the effects of
war.
They do organizing, consciousness-raising, research and lobbying work. They provide a wide array
of services such as rehabilitation work and psychosocial trauma and healing. In the Philippines, this
work is done by groups such as the Balay Rehabilitation Center. Other organizations monitor
conflicts and agreements between warring groups. The “Bantay Ceasefire” in Mindanao, Philippines,
makes sure that the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF is observed. Sulong
CARHRIHL is a third party network that monitors the compliance of the Philippine Government and
the National Democratic Front to their agreement to respect human rights and the international
humanitarian law.
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3. Mitigating the Effects of War
- NGOs also carry out education and training on conflict resolution to help build
peoples’ capacity to approach their conflict peacefully.
The Center for Peace Education based in Miriam College carries out that work.
Religious organizations such as the Bishops-Ulama Conference in the Philippines
composed of Christian bishops and Muslim religious leaders, regularly dialogue to
discover common grounds. Various groups in the Philippines work to control arms
and other weapons such as the Philippine Action Network to Control Arms,
Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines, Philippine Campaign against Cluster
Munitions, and Nuclear-Free Philippines Coalition. Countries of the world have
long lists of NGOS, too, that work to prevent, reduce and resolve armed conflict or
mitigate the effects of it. The work that they do help extensively in saving lives
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3. Mitigating the Effects of War
Various treaties, agreements, resolutions and conventions were also drafted to mitigate the effects of war. Some of
these are as follows:
• The International Humanitarian Law or the Law of Armed Conflict comprises the rules which seek to protect
civilians in times of armed conflict and restrict methods and means of warfare.
• UN Security Council Resolution 1325 calls upon all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect
women and girls in situations of armed conflict and to increase women’s participation in conflict resolution and
peace processes.
• UN Security Council Resolution 1820 deals with sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations. Rape has
become an instrument of war, hence, the resolution calls on parties to armed conflicts to take appropriate steps to
end sexual violence in situations of armed conflict. It commits to punishing perpetrators of sexual violence.
• The UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) on Small Arms is an agreement to control supply, reduce demand, remove
existing weapons from circulation, and stop diversion of weapons from legal to illegal users.
• The Ottawa Treaty prohibits the use, stockpile, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.
• The Convention on Cluster Munitions is an agreement to ban the production, stockpile, use and transfer of cluster
bombs. It was drafted in early 2008 and is open for signatures in December of the same year.
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3. Mitigating the Effects of War
It can be drawn from descriptions that there are numerous initiatives by various groups
toward the protection of human well-being as well as arms control and disarmament.
Disarmament is a process of getting rid of weapons while arms control is the exercise of
strict control over existing ones. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of war or at least
mitigate its effects. The availability of weapons contributes to the high rate of violence.
There have been agreements with the goal of control- ling weapons. The UNPoA, the
Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Ottawa Treaty described above are examples. The
Biological Weapons Convention stops signatories from developing, producing, or stock-
piling biological weapons, primarily viruses and bacteria. The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT)
made signatories agree to refrain from atmospheric, outer space, or undersea testing of
nuclear weapons. Currently, there are efforts to draft an Arms Trade Treaty as the UNPoA
does not cover vital issues such as human rights, transfer of arms to non-state actors, misuse
of guns by state officials, and the gendered nature of gun misuse and injury, among others25
(IANSA,
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4. Peace Education and the War System
The UNESCO Preamble states that “if wars begin in the minds of men, then it
is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.”
Peace education is one concrete pathway to challenge war.
“Peace education seeks to develop a global perspective on the problems and an
understanding that humans are a single species” (Reardon and Cabezudo, 2002).
Peace education can help challenge thoughts that the world is divided into
“good guys and bad guys” and that winning over the “bad guys” is the way to
go. Peace education seeks to teach the concept of oneness of the human race.
Most divisions are socially and culturally constructed.

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4. Peace Education and the War System
Differences are meant to enrich us, not divide us. Education is a force that can
help reduce inter-group conflicts by enlarging peoples’ social identifications
beyond parochial ones. This can be done by expanding learners’ understanding
and appreciation of security from the traditional national concept to a more
human and comprehensive one
Teaching students peaceful conflict resolution skills will also help learners
understand that conflicts may be approached constructively and that there are
better workable alternatives to aggression. Peace education programs include the
teaching of the theories of nonviolence and the practice of nonviolent direct
action. Case studies of how nonviolent direct action worked in various parts of
the world should make students see that there are, indeed, alternatives to27
violence.
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