Why Nations Go To War | Intellections

War is politics by other means. In other words, when political leaders cannot get what they want through political means, they judge the cost of achieving their goal through military force. Preventing armed conflict requires raising the cost of using force. Until the cost of any armed conflict is prohibitively high, conflicts will continue.
For more information, visit the PolicyEd.org page here: www.policyed.org/intellection....
Additional resources:
“Bellum Interruptum” by Victor Davis Hanson, available here: bit.ly/2urtopq
“War: The Gambling Man’s Game” by Kori Schake, available here: www.hoover.org/research/war-ga...
“Words matter, even a few” by Victor Davis Hanson, available here: victorhanson.com/wordpress/wo...
Podcast with Kori Schake on American dominance of the international order, available here: www.hoover.org/research/kori-s...

[@gru1996]

Hear me out, what if our leaders fight against each other in a boxing match rather than have innocent people fight for them

[@euminkong]

I had that idea since I was in the first grade. It is funny because I feel like Putin would win.

[@JasonSmith-ub8bj]

@@euminkong nah Kim Jong Un or Trump would win they’d just sit on everyone else

[@pikameme3322]

Nah, they're just a bunch of pussies using the people of their country for their greedy schemes.

[@scorpion8375]

Or how about we don't let dumber decide our fate? How about we create a law where - everyone is friend with everyone- and if anyone wants war - then everyone beats the shot out of aggressor?

[@bipolareagle8892]

@@scorpion8375 I thought of that too but the main problem as to why that doesn't exist is because of beliefs. Russia for instance believes US' way of peace is tyrannical. They are spreading their influence and in Russian eyes they are dominating the globe. Even though to other countries US influence is good because of protection and trade. I think conflict is just an innate human trait and no matter what we do it always seems to creep its way back.

[@januzairamli4426]

One word: Greed.

[@euminkong]

My dad said every single fight on earth is due to selfishness.

[@neotheone5559]

No, sometimes it's because of desperation or to resolve a problem

[@schoolwork232]

Your dad was very right! The root cause of all wars is selfishness!

[@Royalnykkiplants]

So true and greed.

[@solosailor222]

"War" is never a solution, until it is the ONLY solution - T. Roosevelt

[@joyt841]

*Idiot Roosevelt

[@GcoEnterprises]

Why nations go to war is because of resources! One nation wants what another nation has and doesn't want to have to pay for it especially if they have better military power! Also, it's in the Banker's interest to go to war! Because both warring nations end up owing them money for all the loan borrowed for military weapons, etc!

[@neotheone5559]

Those are very good reasons why. Most War goals were to gain more land for a certain group/individuals or to gain economic resources for the benefit of a nation/individual/organization.

[@keanchundia]

Quite clever

[@visionplant]

The US loves war. They have a culture of violence, where instances of death, war, pain, etc are celebrated and even advertised through television and other forms of mass-media. Even micro-aggressions like exceedingly rude speech is celebrated. Given the geographic location of the U.S., we're okay with watching/hearing about war and millions dying so long as it's happening over there and not here. We feel we're immune to any of the serious fighting going on, with millions dying and environments becoming uninhabitable so long as it's not on our side of the sea. It's truly both a disgusting and distressing way of thinking.

[@atheistcrusader1160]

only the US?

[@sidohofman6835]

US has a violent history. The natives were slaughtered by the Europeans. Africans enslaved. Civil wars, gang wars and not to forget that “the greatest country” is built on gangs. The biggest gang is its government unfortunately. Government is like a legalized crime.

[@nomvonglismerced4311]

Freedom allows for the expression of man's deepest desires and when thoughts are allowed to be expressed, they change the world. War is the ultimate result/solution to freedom as the freedoms will always be encroached due to irreconcilable differences. Absolute freedom leads to anarchy and restrained freedom leads to rebellion. This is the natural curse of apex humanity. Harmony and peace on Earth is a dream Technocrats plan to implement with AI oversight and neural link equity.

[@lategame7348]

That’s a vague, simplistic and false way of looking at it because if Anything the US is preventing Wars from happening rather than starting them

[@boi2805]

It’s just interesting how humans think it’s a solution when that in itself is a construction which doesn’t really exist given that there is enough self awareness, like most things humans have created in the world, borders don’t exist, we just drew an invisible line and called it that.

[@neotheone5559]

War is a violent way for either businesses, governments, and nations to settle disagreements/ to gain power. However most individuals prefer peaceful methods than war, but the reason war exist is because of 3 things 1. Peaceful methods cannot achieve desired goal 2. Where disagreements get to heated up for peaceful methods 3. Where two individual's goals conflict Each other to a point where war is viable Over millennia, most of humanity were at war with each other. Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had foreign bone matter and spearheads in them 20,000 years ago. Most wars happen at small scales like civil wars but two wars standout from the rest, WW1 and WW2. Today we will be learning about the history of wars and how they changed, please turn to page 345 of your textbooks.

[@303machine]

4. War for resources and living space.

[@Andrew-nq2dt]

I there a longer version of this? This was bringing up interesting ideas and then just ended.

[@danielayala646]

if leaders of nations were required to battle along side their troops everytime they wanted war theyd think about it harder before starting one

[@fbibarbie]

The defense of other nations is not our responsibility.

[@billn.1318]

0:16 is all you needed to hear.

[@khantzayar4480]

Oh It's Simple Thirst For Land Thirst For Resources And Ethnic Conflicts

[@michellejsmith9618]

WAR. Why? "FOR", What? So many hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of trillions of men, have died on battlegrounds, since times unmemorable, and immemorable. "WHY"? FOR "WHAT" "GOOD" REASON(S)? I DON'T get it. I don't think THAT'S WHAT we are here for I just, "DON'T, get it.

[@EPmessi9800]

I have these exact thoughts in my head 😂

[@KenMasters.]

Corruption and Violence causes war, there will always be vendetta in both categories.

[@nsleone299]

why do you only have like 5k subs this stuff is amazing!

[@scarvello]

Greed and fear

[@neotheone5559]

Most of wars involve greed, but all evoke fear

[@romesking4204]

Repeat after me: I will not pay for land that god gave me for free I am a guardian of this land not an owner and I will perserve this beautiful land for generations to come, my home is earth and I will protect my home....

[@pubcle]

"I will not pay for land that god gave me for free" So are you going to build all the roads, industry, food production. Modern society can not live by such ideological perfection as much as I wish it could.

[@thehighlander1194]

@@pubcle LOL maybe he will use a horse or wheel his cart

[@neotheone5559]

Isn't this a native american proverb.

[@neotheone5559]

@@pubcle Ahh I see you understand An Anarcho-cap philosophy

[@jamesmurphy9105]

British Empire ended with miscalculated the German Empire

[@ellkir1521]

This video must have been produced by a twelve year old. No facts, no intelligent arguments, no history, just opinions based on a cartoon. I expected far more from this channel.

[@baatar]

You are definitely right about the no history part, very unsettling.

[@gloccry2184]

You seem like someone very intelligible. If you want a reflective analysis on this question here is one that you would probably enjoy, at least more than this one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqrXc5-ZiMh6hM0

fine,ok. but why the cheap xmas jingle. do you think we miss it?

[@theelongatedmeatballe8487]

Is this for children?

[@SLO722]

si vis pacem, para bellum

[@valeblack3393]

One word: MONEY

[@neotheone5559]

Most of the time yes

[@APaul-se6pe]

Cash, bread, cheddar, quid, denaro, Bill's. Yeah, bet noone will admit to that.

[@dimadanylevych5736]

Really? Stop blaming other nations. In this case (as showed in video) surrounding russia won't prevent war, but will make them believe that we want to attack them, and will cause reaction on their part. Understanding other side and their motives is much better solution for peace

[@MrCovi2955]

Understanding motives and trying to work together is what diplomacy is all about. However there are times when motives are at utter conflict. A simple (common) example from history: Group A wants more land because they desire space for their growing population (because otherwise they will have to start living in more and more cramped accommodations and cities), Group B does not want their land overrun and taken over by Group A's beliefs/politics/practices/morals/policies/culture. There is no diplomatic solution to this that satisfies both sides, especially if Group A and Group B's ideologies are diametrically opposed, eg: Group A believes in order at all costs (including freedom), and Group B believes in freedom at all costs (including order). Hence why Group A and Group B went to war. By increasing the cost of war, leaders and people then have to decide if the much greater war is a cost they're willing to pay. It suddenly goes from "do we pay with a few of our lives to [have land for our families / maintain our independence]" to "do we start a massive war that will greatly tax our families and lives in order to possibly [have more land for our families / maintain our independence]." But good job disregarding the entire commentary of the video over the placement of some pawns on the map. (Note: the example of Group A and Group B is not reflecting any particular struggle of the past, merely noting a common historical repetition for the purpose of example).

[@zachbergmann7916]

So how about you help them find other solutions to their condensed living situation? Japan is finding unique solutions to the very same problem without invading Korea or something. Motives are RARELY at utter conflict. People just need to stop for a goddamn second to think outside the dichotomy that is placed before them.

[@pubcle]

You are both correct and completely utterly wrong, good sir. You are correct in that it is bad to attempt to completely surround Russia in such a way and that putting this much tension on them is a bad decision and should be scaled back, that the boot on Russia should be lessened and we should look for cooperation where possible, however, to back off too much is also an absolutely utterly terrible idea. It is a careful balance of pressure that must be maintained.

[@TheThreatenedSwan]

Dima Danylevych Rising time preferences, primarily through democracy, leads to more and more interventionism (aggression), this video is completely oxymoronic.

[@carmenkramer5230]

i dont know about this video i wanted to look up why wars happen and it gave me no good example

[@sushmitakumar9653]

policy for policy maker?!

[@kiddbillinger3948]

Where is the lie?

[@petrospetroupetrou9653]

Where do the millions of people factor in all of this? I mean when were we asked? Or are we too dumb to know when our lives may potentially be at stake. Oh...yeah, I forgot...its all about the national interest. Get it? Not the state interest...its the NATIONAL interest. What would simple simon citizen know about war..hey?

[@TheMexlalo]

This video don't explain the TRUTH.

[@dotagedrain7051]

Lol us love war.... Afghanistan iraq african syria libya lol.. what you on about.. your the agressor...

[@Eric-ye5yz]

Till America can get its act together, it would be better they don't get involved. Politically any country that elects a trump is a mess

[@zachbergmann7916]

This video is too simplistic. And it implies the key to preventing war is having the larger army. It says nothing of technology or treaties either. Nations can make treaties to scale down their militaries, so they don't have to spend half their goddamn GDP on "Deterring" adversaries. This way, they can redirect those funds toward obtaining what they want with a unique technological development. Stop trying to justify a 600B military budget (not counting whatever ungodly amounts Intel Agencies spend). And stop pretending like humans can't invent different solutions to our problems.

[@pubcle]

The US military actually helps greatly in keeping its status and its economic growth. It should be scaled back in some ways and spent far more efficiently but it is very important that the US keeps its enormous military for the interests of the US in economic and political power over the world. Think about it this way, the most navy of Europe combined is less than the size of China's navy, the United States has a navy double that of Russia and China combined making any conventional war with the US unthinkable to any sane statesman. Through the US's military might it ensures that none can really start a proper war.

[@GR20000]

The reason the US has a large military is two fold. One, the US military is the strong arm of the west and services as the strongest link in NATO. Other nations contribute specialist, technological research and to a certain extent manpower, but the US is the one going all in on the martial costs of a standing military, most notably our navy and air force. By limiting US spending we'd either have to lower the strength of NATO, an Alliance that has maintained some semblance of European peace for the last several decades something that I can assure you not a single Eastern European nation would ever want, or we'd have to ask nations like Germany, France and Britain to pick up the tab where the US is backing off. The second is that, for the most part, the Military industrial complex is beneficial to the working class. The vast majority of that 600B goes to paying people to put all this high end military tech together, just nearby there's a stealth destroyer being built that is employing hundreds, if not thousands, of local laborers. In terms of treaties you have to understand one thing, that is not always a viable solution. Nazi Germany could not be reasoned with, period, strong military force at the start of their expansion, before they could prepare the own war machine, and forward military thinking could have dramatically changed the events of WW2 (though, I admit, the global depression made that difficult). Treaties only work if there's strong trust between nations so they generally are only good for long term relationships and will be filled with distrust in the short term. Having a strong coalition of forces to deter aggression is a strong tactic, you don't go to wars you can't and know you can't win. And it's not that humans can't, it's just that a war only requires one party to refuse to come to compromise and humanity has prove itself incapable to think rationally even most of the time. In summery, the US represents not just the US, but all of the west in it's military force, and for the most part western nations are not only okay, but glad we fill that role (this is why Donald Trump even managed to convince NATO nations to comply with the alliances dues rules because they do not want to do anything that puts NATO in jeopardy) and so expecting the US just to drop off our military spending is extremely shortsighted and isolationist (you know, that thing that caused WW2 to drag on far longer than it needed to), 2 unlike bureaucratic wages, regulatory agencies and other such government spending, the military industrial complex actually makes things like tech that can be adapted to civilian use and a metric crap load of jobs at all strata of skill and education requirements. While I am in favor of spreading the burden more evenly, I would never suggest lessening the strength of NATO for any reason.