War, What Is It Good For?

Why were we put on this planet? Was it to destroy each other, war against our neighbors simply because we do not share the same beliefs? Perhaps it is an experiment by a higher power to see how much humans can take before they crack. In the process, it would be shown that humans have advanced only technologically over prehistoric barbarians, using sophisticated clubs and rocks to destroy each other. If this is not the case, though, we should be doing what helps to preserve mankind, not end it.

We began this century with a war, a war that was supposed to end all wars. Many lost their lives and, worse, many survived to live in disillusionment. It was a war that sought political stability for an unstable region, and used as a playground for testing new weapons that came from industrialization of nations. Yet when it ended, there remained more questions than answers. What did the future hold for the world, a world that had found a way to destroy itself? What was the political landscape of the world, and how was internationalism to play a part? In essence, had it really solved anything? The world had been awakened, and just as fast it went back to sleep.

The mess that had boiled over in the Balkan states, into what is now known as World War One, was not cleaned up. (The war was started when a Bosnian man, linked to Serbia, assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Bosnia then declared war on Serbia. Russia, France, England, and eventually Italy and the United States entered the war on the side of Serbia, due to treaty obligations; Austria-Hungary and Germany entered on the side of Bosnia). The nations had tried to clean up the mess by attempting to establish the League of Nations after the war, which would help end such military actions through diplomacy; but too soon the joining nations returned to their own agendas. England had her empire to sustain, France had her colonies, Russia had her new government, and the United States had its ‘isolationism” in which to revert. The Balkan states of Bosnia and Serbia, however, still remained the same, as divided after the war as when it had started. The war had given an outlet for the hatred and anger to expel itself, but it failed to silence it. The prejudice still remained until communism helped to quiet them through oppression after World War Two. But now that communism is gone from the region, due to the so-called “collapse” of the Soviet Union, those prejudice have once again arisen from the ashes of more than 70 years ago.

As this century ends, we face the possibility of ending it with another war in the region. Are we going to let that happen and allow history to repeat itself? Before and after World War One, the United States had maintained a policy that did not interfere with the European nations and their intrigues, so long as they did not interfere with United States interest in the Western Hemisphere. This was known as “isolationism”, based in part on the Monroe Doctrine. The United States only entered the war after Germany again attacked its merchant ships and decided it was in its best interest. (After all, the United States had been funding both sides of the war in order to maintain the balance). In the aftermath, American and Eurocentric philosophy caused a breakdown for internationalism. Due to greed and ego, the twin enemies of humanity, an opportunity was lost for a different course of human history. The United States returned to its old policy, just as other nations returned to theirs; the phoenix of the Balkans was left to burn in its smoldering ashes.

We are faced with that phoenix today. It has once again arisen, and an international force must be sent to ensure peace. This is right as the human thing to do, but it is also the necessary thing to do if the world is ever to find peace. We talk of national interest, but is it not in the interest of the United States and its international allies to help anyone who would ask for it, including communist countries? The principles that guide us, democracy and the fight for freedom, must apply to everyone, or they mean nothing. If we fail to do so, then we fail ourselves. It is a risk, a dangerous one, for all the countries that support such operations. Yet it is a risk that those who are willing to go are willing to take, and have pledged to do so.

There is no national interest that is greater than that of international interest, that of humanity and of peace; now is the time to put aside our differences and come together. Humans have been warring against each other for centuries, and what good has it done? Nationalism has had its time; now it is time for international cooperation to lead the world. If we used one-tenth of the energies needed for war somewhere else, poverty might not exist anywhere. The human spirit can not allow such bitter hatred and warring to continue, anywhere. We must end it now while we still can, before it is too late, and begin using those energies together in a positive way. In the end, that is the reason why the warring in the Balkans, and other places, must be stopped. Wherever this evil raises its ugly head, international diplomacy, force, or whatever is needed, must be there. By not doing anything, we become accomplices of evil; by doing something, we at least make an attempt at a unified and peaceful world.

We are coming to the close of a century that has seen the worst examples of human energies and atrocities, and also the best examples of human survival. We have seen the growth of prejudice, greed, and arrogance, throughout the centuries, that has caused the slaughter of countless innocents. In the aftermath of it all, we have found a way to overcome such evils and survive. Yet we have allowed it to continue by turning our backs on it once it was out of sight. But like the weed that it is, it keeps growing back; we must become the attentive gardener and pluck it out. There are numerous examples through history in which wars could have been averted if there had been peaceful intervention at the beginning. Now is the time for international cooperation to stop the constant conflicts of a divided world. The international force in the Balkans will be there to maintain the peace set up by the warring parties; we will not be there for a war, as we have already seen what good that does, unless the warring parties feel it necessary to alter the peace agreements by engaging that force. By ensuring the true end to the war there and maintaining peace, we will not end evil overnight. This operation will only be the beginning of a long-tern international commitment to securing the world from the conflicts that will spring up all over, in the hope of prosperity and peace.

Seldom does one get a second opportunity to fix the past, but now the United States and its international neighbors have a chance to learn the lessons of World War One. An opportunity as such should be seized upon, for it may never come again. When it first arose, after World Wax One, it was the right idea at the wrong time; internationalism was not yet ready to be tried. Now, though, it is the right time, the perfect time. When the history of this time is written, let it not say that we were too timid to respond to such a task. Instead, let it say that the nations of the world picked up the gauntlet of peace and made a stab for humanity. We have a chance to redeem and change the course of this world, a chance that may never come again. A chance for peace.

©1995 Steve Sagarra