War As A Fundamental Way Of War

In Carnage and Culture Victor David Hanson expressed a slanted perspective about the crucial battles in western history in order to support his theory that western militaristic strategies are superior to alternative forms of warfare. He fostered his sentiments by explaining how specific battle tactics can unify or divide a nation in a matter of moments. However, his reference to the concept that western warriors continuously triumph in war, is expressed in a manner that does not fully evaluate both perspectives of the conflict. Hanson alluded to the message behind Carnage and Culture when he stated “a sense of personal freedom, superior discipline, matchless weapons, egalitarian camaraderie, individual initiative, constant tactical adaptations, and flexibility, preference for shock battle of heavy infantry— were themselves the murderous dividend of Hellenic culture at large… Yet for the past 2,500 years— even in the Dark Ages, well before the “Military Revolution,” and not simply as a result of the Renaissance, the European discovery of the Americas, or the Industrial Revolution— there has been a peculiar practice of Western warfare, a common foundation and continual way of fighting, that has made Europeans the most deadly soldiers the history of civilizations (Hanson 5-6).” Although Hanson is able to give an overview of valuable battles that express western confidence and reflect the west’s brutal military tactics that established the region as an unstoppable

Through separate publications, Geoffrey Parker and Victor Hanson describe principal foundations (Parker) and a prominent element (Hanson) that serve as the basis for their argument in defining a Western Way of War. However, both men fall short in clearly describing what is a true Western Way of War. Both the principal foundations by Parker and the prominent element by Hanson, while insightful, only delineate a single type of warfare that was used by the armies of Europe and the United States, however they fail to capitalize on the basis of their argument because neither man legitimately compares that type of warfare to any other method of fighting that was used, or is currently used, by other nations around the world. Hence, there is no

Yet for the past 2,500 years— even in the Dark Ages, well before the “Military Revolution,” and not simply as a result of the Renaissance, the European discovery of the Americas, or the Industrial Revolution— there has been a peculiar practice of Western warfare, a common foundation and continual way of fighting, that has made Europeans the most deadly soldiers the history of civilizations. (Hanson 5-6)

News media is supposed to serve the purpose of informing their listeners of current and upcoming events that affect the audience. Very few viewers actually take into account how valid these news reports actually are. More or less, the news is accept. The same could be said about any news releases on war. However, in the documentary, “War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” the narrator speaks to the audience about how the media such as news reporters and presidential speeches influenced Americans to become advocates for the war. Presidents play a large role in propaganda because they showed means of justification for their immoral military actions during these wars. The film discuss several wars in which America contributed in unethical acts.

The western way of war consists of five foundations that have shaped a significant amount of military cultures; the foundations are superior technology, discipline, a finance system, innovation, and military tradition. Perhaps people believe that discipline is not one of the most important foundations of the western way of war, since people tend to emphasize technology. However, discipline is the key to maximizing the other four foundations before and during conflict. Historian Geoffrey Parker agrees that technology can give a military advantage, but it is not sufficient without superior discipline. That is because discipline consists of the ability of armies to act within battle plans even when not supervised, obey orders, exercise loyalty, and restrain their fears when faced with danger. Discipline as a western way of war has influenced military cultures from the Roman Empire to today’s militaries. Discipline shaped military cultures by how they prepared for war, effectively giving them the ability to act during combat and expanding commander’s operational reach, thus aiding in conflicts throughout history and increasing the likelihood of defeating the adversary.

Throughout much of the history of civilizations, states have declared war for land, valuables, and resources. In the course of the mid-20th century and the 21st century, ascendant super powers have invaded foreign lands for resources such as oil, and weapons companies have profited from the ongoing cycle of war these super powers promote. The populations of these states have been fed lies vis-à-vis the media; propagandizing these “rogue nations” and promoting an ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality, to garner support for these armed conflicts. War is our primordial instinct, as humans are territorial and aggressive. That is our nature, and by looking at events in our history, one may see that war appears to be timeless and inevitable.

The idea of war, just war, wars of aggression or any of the innumerable ways humans convey and justify war is certain an intangible. War has been part of human society for thousands of years, and it is unlikely that some sort of cultural or human conflict will ever be completely erased (Brodie, 1974, p. 276). One very standard definition of war states that it is a quarrel between nations conducted by force - essentially derived when two groups are unable to communicate reasonably and meaningfully and also when a group or individual's nature is collectively aggressive or violent, encouraging war for oppressive purposes. (Somerville, 1975, p. 199). Historically, it was often easier to define what 'war' meant, but as we the 20th century changed the economic, cultural and political structure of the world, the idea of well-defined war becomes murky (Horgan, 2008). One obvious commonality throughout the historical record is the justification and/or cause of conflict. Points of view differ, but there is always a publicly justifiable reason for cultures to make war upon each other.

Unfortunately, our modern society has been marred with war and strife over its eventful lifespan. A civil disagreement, when accompanied by mass offenses, often ends with deadly war. Throughout history, many nations have been unable to solve their personal grievances with one another in a diplomatic manner. In many instances are solves through protest, boycotts and other contentious means. However, in some instances, society elects the worst possible alternative, which is often war. In retrospect, wars have been fought for many worthwhile causes, even by today's standards. Wars have been fought over liberty, injustice, the potential threat to national security and more. However, no war is more damaging than those that are civil. Brother against brother, father against father, neighbor against neighbor. These are often the most bitter of wars simply because they are so personal and contentious. As is the case with the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the varying degrees of hatred and disagreement resulting in massive deaths. Due primarily to the civil nature of the war, many lives were lost in an unnecessary and often brutal manner.

War is a necessary part of human nature. War has always been a part of countries and nations history. Militarism in countries , people who are nationalist extremist showing their aggression towards other countries. War is a necessary part of humanity because people naturally view others as ‘Us and them’, people being patriotic,nationalist or extremist causing tension between nations of the world.

According to Article One, Section Eight, Congress has the power “To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;” This means that Congress must be consulted before going to war and has the power to not only declare war, but also the power to raise an army and navy, to fund war effort; however, the President, in Article II, is named commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but this does not give him the power to commit armed forces to war.

There has been a great deal of military scholarship written on the greatest battles of the world and has influenced these armed forces fighting in these grand battles. Two of these scholarships are discussed by Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian specializing on classical warfare and a current professor at California State University, and John A Lynn, a military historian specializing in early modern Europe and is a current professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both books discuss cultural linkage in terms of successful armies and how the victor’s culture resulted in victory, but thesis is problematic because he creates a staunch dichotomy of western battle virtues versus every other armed force in the world. An

Throughout all of history, humans have gone to war with each other. They may fight over land, food, social status, power, or simply over wrong and right. Many people take it for

War has alway been intriguing to people across all generations and time periods. What causes war, what makes war more likely, and how can one prevent wars? It’s an age old question that no one has yet to pin down the underlying problems within actors that possess them to go to the extreme to solve problems. Wars have been fought since the beginning of recorded time, and will there ever be a last war?

War is an inevitable feature of international politics. Assess with reference to liberalism or realism

In the time period of last ten years, many changes have been observed in the nature of Warfare from being aggressive towards more argumentative. There are various views and debates among the nature and character of the wars and the debate continues to grow with time. The several reasons of changes can be attributed to the technological advances and other situational changes. This essay is going to shed light upon whether the nature and character of war has been changed in the course of recent years or it continues to be the same as it was years ago.