The twentieth century has been the century of war as well. Wars have taken
place since human history began. But here I am talking about a type of war
waged by nation states in terms of a total commitment of all resources
available as defined by Raymond Aron as "the century of total war."
Hunting and gathering food did not require much fighting, agricultural
operations required only securing land and the nomadic life included some
robbing of others to enrich oneself, but none of these required total war.
Nomadic peoples actually did engage in some bitter wars, but these were
waged by professional warriors in accordance with certain rules and
practices in fields free of crops. Wars were over once the enemy chief
was killed or a certain post or enemy military flag was secured. It was
France which introduced modern war by institutionalizing conscription.
Subsequent to the revolution, France engaged in war for twenty- five years
when all its national resources, including its citizens, were mobilized.
This is an uncompromising type of war demanding unconditional surrender by
another nation state and it culminated in World War I where non-combatants,
women and children become targets, resulting in the killing of at least
twenty million human beings. Out of this tragedy and devastation, emerged
the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. Yet, history then
experienced World War II, which resulted in the deaths of fifty-five
million people only ending with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
The United Nations was born as a result of this catastrophe and the
Japanese peace constitution of 1946 is an offspring. Due to the decline of
Western Europe and Japan, the United States and the Soviet Union assumed
hegemony, holding on to the capability to wage total war only against one
another. Ironically, because of the power of nuclear weapons, they were
unable to actually wage war, so they competed mostly in the developing
world, through religious, ethnic and border conflicts. A third world war is
no longer conceivable simply because there is no nation state capable of
waging total war after the collapse of the Soviet Union, except for the
United States. The most serious issue before us now is how to develop a new
concept and formula to govern the globe peacefully. While many people,
organizations and even nations are striving toward this goal, the United
States, which is still capable of waging a twentieth century style total
war, is hanging on this concept becoming, in a way, the most backward
country in terms of building a new world order, followed by its closest
relative, the United Kingdom, and its illegitimate and blind disciple,
Japan. |
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