# How can we stop war and conflict? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 17, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379 "2016-01-17T02:31:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/21 "2016-01-18T05:52:05Z")
Try taking a look at this 18-minute video. You may not believe it, but the world is actually becoming LESS violent in the last 70 years. [http://omeleto.com/219202/](http://omeleto.com/219202/) > [@](#): > > The video begins by counting the number of deaths during Word War 2. But by 14:18, it shows how truly blessed we are today. And by 16:35, I’m hopeful for our future… ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/22 "2016-01-18T08:16:23Z")
We won’t in the foreseeable future. We are a violent and warlike race. We always have been and, most likely, always will be. Peace on Earth will be attained through the introduction of a non-Earth enemy and only until that enemy is beaten. Once we win we’ll go back to killing each other - Rodenbury be damned. I don’t buy the idea that we are now more peaceful than ever. I base that on the ridiculous number of conflicts going on at the moment and the fact that “history” only really accounts for the last few hundred years and is largely western based - in the west. If you consider the ongoing conflicts in Southeast Asia, Africa, the middle east there is no way that you can say we are more peaceful now than ever before. We still slaughter each other but most of it is hidden by the obsession with the Kardashians and their ilk. The fact is that we like killing each other and we will not stop. Sad but true. Zeke ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/23 "2016-01-18T08:53:45Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Both countries hate the US and want the US ripped out. Countries don’t hate, or even think. The more precise you are in your terminology the more precise you will be in your thought. Neither country hates the US. There may be some people in those countries who hate the US but most probably just want a decent life for themselves and their families, same as the rest of us. The leadership of each country uses (or used to use) the US as a bogeyman, but the leadership itself would be too smart to fail to understand that bogeymen aren’t real, and are best left alone. I don’t even know what wanting the US “ripped out” means. I suspect you mean “destroyed”. Some people in NK and Iran may wish to see the US destroyed, there are extremists everywhere. But most probably at worst simply perceive the US negatively, which is a long way from wishing to see it destroyed. Most people are basically decent. Even Iranians and North Koreans. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/24 "2016-01-18T13:21:32Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I don’t buy the idea that we are now more peaceful than ever. I base that on the ridiculous number of conflicts going on at the moment and the fact that “history” only really accounts for the last few hundred years and is largely western based - in the west. > > If you consider the ongoing conflicts in Southeast Asia, Africa, the middle east there is no way that you can say we are more peaceful now than ever before. … So your gut feeling trumps observation? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/25 "2016-01-18T15:16:44Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > So your gut feeling trumps observation? Depressingly, this is true for the vast majority of humanity for the vast majority of the time. Of course, that’s just my gut feeling. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/26 "2016-01-18T18:15:14Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > We won’t in the foreseeable future. > > We are a violent and warlike race. We always have been and, most likely, always will be. > > Peace on Earth will be attained through the introduction of a non-Earth enemy and only until that enemy is beaten. Once we win we’ll go back to killing each other - Rodenbury be damned. > > I don’t buy the idea that we are now more peaceful than ever. I base that on the ridiculous number of conflicts going on at the moment and the fact that “history” only really accounts for the last few hundred years and is largely western based - in the west. > > If you consider the ongoing conflicts in Southeast Asia, Africa, the middle east there is no way that you can say we are more peaceful now than ever before. We still slaughter each other but most of it is hidden by the obsession with the Kardashians and their ilk. > > The fact is that we like killing each other and we will not stop. > > Sad but true. > > Zeke It is true that violence is still happening, but even outside the “west” people that study populations issues can tell you that it is wrong to think that the world is getting worse. [http://www.thelocal.se/20150905/hans-rosling-you-cant-trust-the-media](http://www.thelocal.se/20150905/hans-rosling-you-cant-trust-the-media) > [@](#): > > “You can’t trust the news outlets if you want to understand the world. If you think that the majority of the world population is very poor and if you believe that the girls don’t attend school, and that all of these people are trying to flee to wealthier countries, then you don’t understand anything,” he told broadcaster DR. > > He cites the example of Nigeria as a case where a successful transition of power in a recent democratic election has been overshadowed by news of atrocities committed by Boko Haram. > > “You can chose to only show my shoe, which is very ugly, but that is only a small part of me. If you choose to only show my face then that is another part of me,” Rosling argued. > > Rosling presented several indicators such as birthrates which are no longer growing, the widespread use of contraception and an increasing number of girls attending school, to argue that the world outside the borders of the western world is developing positively and that war and conflict is only a small part of the bigger picture. The point is that indeed, it can be better, and we have no excuse really on trying to make it better and preventing our environment from degrading. But not having some perspective and not looking at the data is something that the media that has for motto “if it bleeds it leads” is counting on so as to also use fear to keep up the number of eyeballs they need for advertisers. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/27 "2016-01-18T19:43:40Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I think a world with out war is possible. Even our hunter/gatherer ancestors warred with other hunter/gatherer bands, and they had neither politicians nor corporations. I have a feeling that the best we can hope for is that organized, force-on-force war between nations (WWII-style) will become a thing of the past and that we’ll end up with little brushfire rebellions and the occasional special-ops strike between nations. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/28 "2016-01-18T19:48:16Z")
There are two fairly well documented ways to do so. 1. improve education of women across the world. 2. improve the economic position of all individuals across the world. That said remember that the western world has only been at peace for a very very short time. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/29 "2016-01-18T19:48:27Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > How can we stop war and conflict? > > We don’t. Seriously, it’s part of our nature. And yet outside of TV, I don’t see a lot of war and conflict on a daily basis. Somehow, large portions of mankind do manage to not kill each other. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/30 "2016-01-18T19:55:03Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > And yet outside of TV, I don’t see a lot of war and conflict on a daily basis. Somehow, large portions of mankind do manage to not kill each other. You were lucky, and this is exactly why anecdote does not equal data. [![](https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/deaths.png) ](https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/deaths.png) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/31 "2016-01-18T20:50:47Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I think a world with out war is possible. Of course it’s possible. And the method to achieve it is simplicity itself. Make it so that everyone on the planet agrees about everything. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/32 "2016-01-18T22:43:27Z")
In mammals the most direct way of reducing violence and aggression is to neuter the males. There would be some resistance to this idea, so some sort of catch and release program would need to be implemented. In the long term, science will present answers through pharmacology and genetic engineering. Bit of a game theory dilemma though, since you probably wouldn’t want to be the first society to psychologically disarm yourself. Like the Jack Handey quote: “I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.” A worldwide solution is needed, perhaps through a totalitarian world government. As for current conflicts, Syria is big and ongoing so it could join [the pantheon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_by_death_toll) of bloody conflicts (350k deaths are the highest estimates I see so far), but other than that it’s the usual low level brush fire wars and terrorism. ISIS killed a couple tens of thousand, but not as much as the Mexican cartel war. The late 20th century and early 21st was worse, what with the The Congo Wars, Rwanda, Darfur, the Iraq sanctions, the Soviets in Afghanistan, the Iraq-Iraq war, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/33 "2016-01-19T01:49:49Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Make it so that everyone on the planet agrees about everything. I don’t think that will work. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/34 "2016-01-19T01:55:20Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I don’t think that will work. Splitter! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/35 "2016-01-19T05:22:07Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Splitter! Not my fault **kaylasdad99** is wrong. And you just watch it, **Ekers**. If you’re not with me you’re against me. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/36 "2016-01-19T06:30:49Z")
Well its not exactly the same but the reason for the rise in pirates going after ships off of Somalia was that because of civil war they quit patrolling their waters and all these countries came in and over fished plus dumped pollutants on their shores further killing fish. The locals then who’s lives depended upon fishing switched over to piracy. So, if the world had come together and protected the fishing areas, their might have been no piracy. Its happened before. The world stepped in to protect gorillas and other endangered species in war torn countries. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/37 "2016-01-19T16:38:09Z")
Still waiting for any evidence that Iran has nukes, as in nuclear weapons. Is it possible the OP meant something else, like nuclear reactors or nuclear materials? ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/38 "2016-01-19T17:20:41Z")
As long as there is land, resources, money, and religion you will have war between different peoples competing for all. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/39 "2016-01-19T22:15:01Z")
So, if we eliminate the existence of those four things, we’re golden, right? Only four steps away from world peace. Cool beans! ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379/40 "2016-01-24T01:06:58Z")
Iran is preparing to go to war with the US. > [@](#): > > \*\*Iran unveils second underground missile, likely to irk U.S. > Iran unveiled a new underground missile depot on Tuesday with state television showing Emad precision-guided missiles in store which the United States says can take a nuclear warhead and violate a 2010 U.N. Security Council resolution. > \*\* [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-missiles-idUSKBN0UJ1CB20160105](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-missiles-idUSKBN0UJ1CB20160105) \*\* > [@](#): > > Iran Unveils a Second Underground Missile Base > > Tensions ratcheted up in the Middle East yet again thanks to Iran’s weapon development program. > > Iran unveiled footage yesterday of what it said were Emad ballistic missiles at a new underground missile facility. The one minute footage showed senior Iranian officials inspecting a long line of mobile, nuclear-capable missiles. \*\* > **[Iran Unveils a Second Underground Missile Base](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a18864/iran-unveils-second-underground-missile-base/)** > > News that Iran contains precision-guided, nuclear-capable missiles will likely trigger sanctions. It looks like Iran is preparing to go to war with the US. If nukes are to hit US cities? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-stop-war-and-conflict/743379.md?page=3)