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Why War Trumps Peace

by Ramesh Thakur
27 April 2025 5:29 PM

War is as pervasive as the wish for peace is universal. Hostilities have already resumed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are yet to cease in Ukraine. Indeed around half of all peace agreements collapse within five years. The use of force in inter-group relations has preoccupied the minds of rulers and scholars alike since time immemorial. But so too have some of the most charismatic and influential personalities in human history reflected on the renunciation of force and the possibility of eliminating it from human relationships. Numerous efforts were made in the 20th century to place increasing normative, legislative and operational fetters on the right of states to go to war. Yet the last century turned out to be the most murderous in human history. What if warfare is the normal condition of human society, and peace the exception that requires explanation? This century has witnessed the return of large-scale land warfare in the heart of Europe in Ukraine, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, the biggest spike in geopolitical tensions in decades and the relentless rise of China as a modern military power while still ruled by its communist party. Of course, every conflict is unique and has its own distinctive attributes and dynamics. In addition, though, there are many factors that tilt the balance towards their perpetuation.

Sadly, it takes two to make peace, but only one to keep conflicts going. Thus North Korea cannot afford to make peace for fear of regime identity being completely submerged in a unified Korea. But it can’t afford to go to war, knowing that it would lose. So its policy is to continue the conflict by maintaining tension at a level short of provoking war. The same comments apply to Pakistan vis-à-vis India. Most long-lived conflicts develop an equilibrium and a set of vested interests which militate against efforts at finding peaceful solutions. In Kashmir, for example, a peaceful resolution of another possible nuclear flashpoint would diminish the role of the military in Pakistani politics and destroy the privileged position that it has enjoyed for all of Pakistan’s history. On the Indian side, the dispute with Pakistan is a potent political mobilisation force for the ruling BJP party. Kashmir is also a good example of competitive nationalisms, where the secular nationalism of India collides with the religious nationalism of Pakistan and the ethnic nationalism of Kashmiris. Conflicts can also be kept alive through appeals to kinship loyalties (and pocketbooks) of expatriate groups around the world like Irish Catholics, Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Sikhs.

Sometimes the vested interest is financial. Examples of the profitable political economy of war include the so-called conflict diamonds in Angola and Sierra Leone. Aspects of global ‘uncivil society’ (for example those involved in trafficking women, arms and drugs, mercenaries and laundering money) may also do very nicely out of protracted conflicts, thank you very much. Wars may start over control of lucrative resources or they may be rooted in group grievances but still end up being sustained by the greed of those who discover that profits can be made from fighting. Many of Africa’s post-Cold War conflicts fell into the pattern of greed and grievance. International conflict resolution modalities are designed for inter-state warfare. Yet most armed conflicts in recent times have been internal, albeit some with international dimensions. Is Taiwan – the most likely potential warzone in East Asia – a purely internal affair because it’s a province of China as claimed by Beijing? Have other countries kept the tensions in check or prolonged the conflict by going along with China’s pretend claims? It is also a particularly acute dilemma for the UN, as China is a permanent member of the Security Council – also a relevant consideration for Russia vis-à-vis Ukraine. Often, excluded and oppressed groups can launch wars of state formation based in their separate sense of national identity: Kosovars in Serbia, Tamils in Sri Lanka, Timorese in Indonesia. Many countries experienced wars of national liberation from colonial rule followed by wars of national debilitation of artificially constructed states.

Conflicts can be sustained by multiple contradictory logics, starting with peace and justice. Peace is forward-looking, problem-solving and integrative, requiring reconciliation between past enemies within an all-inclusive political community. Justice is backward-looking, finger-pointing and retributive, requiring trial and punishment of the perpetrators of past crimes. The logic of power is inconsistent with that of justice. Peace in Ukraine or the Middle East cannot be grasped without bending to the military superiority of Russia and Israel. But no peace agreement will last if it is fundamentally unjust to any substantial population group. The logic of negotiation tends to be contradictory. The stronger see no reason to compromise. The weaker fear that negotiations, if not delayed until parity or superiority has been attained, will force them into a humiliating sell-out of their cause. The logics of steadfast resolution and negotiated resolution are often at odds, as we are seeing with Trump’s efforts to broker a peace in Ukraine. Inflamed national passions fight against any negotiated compromise: principles are neither negotiable nor for sale and the aggressor must never be rewarded. Describing a war as values-based rather than in pursuit of national interests further circumscribes the scope for negotiations and compromise. The logics of the past and future can collide. If they are to enjoy peaceful coexistence, communities need to jettison the inherited baggage of historical hatreds. But competing myths are important for the social construction of political identity and history is a fiercely contested terrain. How can one be a Jew today without internalising the collective consciousness of the Holocaust? Palestinian refugees view efforts to refuse them the right to repatriation as an attempt to deny their collective history and identity.

History is also full of examples of missed opportunities. Yasser Arafat missed his moment at Camp David in 2000. Yet politically, he simply could not have sold that package to the Palestinian people and his fellow Arabs at that time. Could the same peace agreements have been signed over Cambodia and Northern Ireland five or 10 years earlier, or did we have to wait in both cases for mutual exhaustion in a stalemated conflict? It seems likely that the deal now available to Ukraine will be worse than what was within their grasp in the negotiations in March to April 2022: a withdrawal by Russia to pre-invasion borders if Ukraine agreed not to join NATO. Several officials from different countries have said that Western powers pressured Kyiv to scuttle the deal, including Boris Johnson during a visit to Kyiv in April 2022. This was confirmed by David Arahamiya, head of the Ukrainian delegation in the 2022 talks, in an interview on November 24th 2023. Conversely and more often, agreements are imposed by external actors against the will of one or both local warring parties. As soon as circumstances change, war resumes.

Ramesh Thakur is a former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Emeritus Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy, the Australian National University. This article was first published in Spectator Australia.

Tags: Israel-Hamas WarPeace dealPeace through strengthPeacemakerWarWar in Ukraine

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27 Comments
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David Beaton
David Beaton
3 years ago

Best news from Scotland for two nightmare years.

“Cancel Culture” and the all out assault on our basic values and freedoms simply must must be stopped if what is still left of our civilisation is to survive.

Last edited 3 years ago by David Beaton
50
0
fla56
fla56
3 years ago
Reply to  David Beaton

True but welcoming in esp current SNP members is surely inviting the fox into the henhouse -I remain to be convinced that any SNP member has anything other than selfish desires for the FSU

12
-1
Hugh
Hugh
3 years ago
Reply to  fla56

I remember a story about an SNP MSP who went to work on Ash Wednesday with ashes on her forehead. In the days of I Like Salmon, they were quite conciliatory towards churchgoers. With things as they are now, I can certainly believe that some members would feel they have reason supporting the FSU. As almost all separatist activists in Scotland seem to coalesce around the SNP, presumably they are quite a “broad church”, and don’t all agree with some of the first fish’s nonsense. I assume that there are separatists who see her as an embarrassment to the independence movement and to Scotland.

Last edited 3 years ago by Hugh
3
0
Rogerborg
Rogerborg
3 years ago
Reply to  fla56

That leapt out at me too, but Sillars is an old (old) school Nat who actually worked in the real world before getting into politics, in stark contrast to the carefully groomed career creatures infesting the party now.

He needs to be treated with caution, but repentant sinners can make the most zealous converts.

3
0
James Macpherson
James Macpherson
3 years ago
Reply to  fla56

Yes, I was perplexed, to say the least, by something so utterly out of character for anyone associated with the SNP, however peripherally, never mind someone so close to the centre. I’d treat with caution . . .

(I speak as a Scot)

0
0
RedhotScot
RedhotScot
3 years ago
Reply to  David Beaton

Nickerless will be scheming already.

7
0
ComeTheRevolution
ComeTheRevolution
3 years ago

Its very disheartening to see so many on here have swallowed the big lie about a novel virus based on unvalidated fraudulent tests and not a lot else. Here is another piece of the puzzle showing how the whole thing really is just a massive scam – rebranding old illnesses, plus not mentioned in this article, killing people and calling it covid – ventilators and remdesevir and midazolam for example – plus outright death certificate forgery to bump up the numbers. All very well known in these parts, but still most believe there is a novel virus among all this crime and deceit. Its unreal.

Was Covid19 a re-branded flu?
https://off-guardian.org/2022/04/12/was-covid19-a-re-branded-flu/

20
-5
RW
RW
3 years ago
Reply to  ComeTheRevolution

No in the sense that it was/ is similar but not identical. Yes in the sense that it was of similar importance (or lack thereof).

8
0
fla56
fla56
3 years ago
Reply to  ComeTheRevolution

’CTR’ please take COVID-denial pseudo-science drivel like this somewhere else, this is a facts-driven site for the scientifically-minded

Or you might just be a COVID-fanatic trying to spread false conspiracy ideas to tarnish the site? Who knows…

3
-14
Nessimmersion
Nessimmersion
3 years ago
Reply to  fla56

Why are you denying the massive overuse of Midazolam?

Remember so far the tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists are up 52 – nil

8
0
RedhotScot
RedhotScot
3 years ago
Reply to  Nessimmersion

More being added by the day.

6
0
Hugh
Hugh
3 years ago
Reply to  Nessimmersion

Goodness, you’ve managed to keep count – well done!

3
0
CovidiotAntiMasker
CovidiotAntiMasker
3 years ago
Reply to  ComeTheRevolution

Interesting article, certainly a very plausible theory, the flu did seem to do a disappearing act, an off duty GP assured me this anomaly was due to social distancing, masks and lockdowns etc.

3
0
Rogerborg
Rogerborg
3 years ago
Reply to  ComeTheRevolution

tl;dr summary: “Ignore the many labs who have independently sequenced SARS-COV-2 and determined that it is indeed a novel coronavirus. Based solely on under-reporting of influenza, I assume and therefore assert as a fact that SARS-COV-2 does not exist.”

It’s fine to be sceptical, but that’s not worth reading in full.

0
0
TheRightToArmBears
TheRightToArmBears
3 years ago
Reply to  ComeTheRevolution

You really have swallowed the scam, because those of us who really know call it the common cold.

0
0
thinkcriticall
thinkcriticall
3 years ago

URGENT!!! Comment on the WHO treaty **NOW**
Comments CLOSE in less than 21 hours from now! It will take you <2 minutes to do. Here’s exactly how to comment.

https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/urgent-comment-on-the-who-treaty?r=o7iqo&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

4
0
Hugh
Hugh
3 years ago
Reply to  thinkcriticall

Done (again, for what it’s worth. I suspect that big pharma and their collaborators will find ways of punishing rebel states).
Is this what the New World Order looks like?

Last edited 3 years ago by Hugh
3
0
Rogerborg
Rogerborg
3 years ago
Reply to  thinkcriticall

Why do you keep calling this a “treaty”?

0
0
John Dee
John Dee
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

If memory serves (and it usually doesn’t) that’s the term used by the WHO.

0
0
Lockdown Sceptic
Lockdown Sceptic
3 years ago

Tuesday Horse & Groom roundabout) Bracknell (Downshire Way Broad Lane & Bagshot Road) a great response and 2 new recruits for Bracknell Stand in the Park on Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKFjjWDA0-8
The video is from Brian who joined us from Woking!

Stand for freedom with our Yellow Boards By The Road next events 

Thursday 14th April 3pm to 4pm
Yellow Boards
Junction A329 Reading Rd 
& Station Approach
Wokingham RG41 1EH 

Monday 18th April 2pm to 3pm
Yellow Boards
Junction A3095 Warfield Rd/
A329 Millennium Way
Bracknell RG12 2XT

Stand in the Park Sundays from 10am – make friends & keep sane 

Wokingham Howard Palmer Gardens 
(Cockpit Path car park free on Sunday) 
Sturges Rd RG40 2HD   

Bracknell  
South Hill Park, Rear Lawn, RG12 7PA

Telegram http://t.me/astandintheparkbracknell

9
-2
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
3 years ago

I wish all involved in FSU Scotland the very best.

At least this will wind up Krankie.

12
0
CynicalRealist
CynicalRealist
3 years ago

On the subject of Scotland, there’s an article in the Guardian today from one of Scotland’s chief Covid-mongers: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/12/herd-immunity-covid-reinfection-virus-world

Got to keep that hysteria level whipped up!

6
0
Hugh
Hugh
3 years ago
Reply to  CynicalRealist

Devi Sridhar – how did I guess. Wants locking up with Fauci and Schwab.

9
0
TheRightToArmBears
TheRightToArmBears
3 years ago
Reply to  Hugh

Along with all the other dirty crooks in Westminster.

0
0
watersider
watersider
3 years ago
Reply to  CynicalRealist

Please give us a clue, as I would not commit the sin of linking to that rag , especially during Holy Week.

0
0
Rogerborg
Rogerborg
3 years ago
Reply to  watersider

“Testing, testing, testing. Keep those numbers up, keep the panic going, a deadly new variant could arrive at any second.”

2
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
3 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

I assume from the above comment that Sridhar has had the nod from Billy that his new brew is about to be released.

Hiding in plain sight.

4
0
RW
RW
3 years ago
Reply to  watersider

$generic_corona_bs should be sufficient.

0
0
RW
RW
3 years ago
Reply to  CynicalRealist

Strangely, I’ve been getting occasional colds for as long as I can remember. From what planet does The Devi[tm] come from if she thinks this must be news?

0
0
nicknorman
nicknorman
3 years ago

Toby deserves our thanks.

9
0
watersider
watersider
3 years ago
Reply to  nicknorman

Yes thanks Toby, we enjoyed your Bafta appearance with Mark Steyn.

3
0
Backlash
Backlash
3 years ago

Free speech with Ayatollah Krankie at the helm? No chance

0
0

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