Every war that isn’t about water is about oil.
Really, that’s the only two resources worth fighting over, everything else is abundant.
I should probably have voted for radical Islam, if not as the main threat to global peace, certainly as the greatest current affront to human decency.
*"Armed Islamic militants have killed 29 students and an English teacher in an attack on a boarding school in northeastern Nigeria.
Survivors being treated for burns and gunshot wounds said some students were burned alive in the attack on Saturday which has been blamed on a radical terror group.
Gunmen, believed to be from Islamist sect Boko Haram* (the group’s nickname translates as “Western education is sinful”)* stormed the premises of Government Secondary School in the town of Mamudo in Yobe state at around 3am, setting fire to parts of the complex.
Dozens of children from the 1,200-student school escaped into the bush and have not been seen since.
Parents rushed to the school and screamed in anguish as they tried to identify the charred and dead bodies of the victims."*
Burn those kids alive, we’ll show the infidels!
Me too. Human nature (er, and Icelanders are human).
Really? Have you met many humans?
However, just because I believe conflict is a result of human nature, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe the tendency can be curbed. I’m not we should attribute wars to human nature and throw up our hands. It’s also human nature to try to solve problems and form stable societies.
Do you think that is bad? How about a country that invades another based on lies resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths?
Or how about a country that send drones to kill people far from any battlefield and then send drones to attack the people that come to rescue?
We should declare a war against conflict!
Put me down as another vote for “human nature”.
Nope. The Iraq war, for instance, wasn’t fought over water or oil, but over testosterone.
It’s gotta be somebody else, then. I’m busy taking a carp.
Or should we blame the images on TV?
The greatest threat to global peace is human sexual reproduction.
If there are no humans on the planet then global peace is meaningless.
No we shouldn’t, and I’ll kill anyone who says different!
Which I believe were started by a dyslexic Icelander who didn’t believe in Cod.
Sorry to carp on, floundering about for relevance. I’ve haddock enough of this plaice.
The biggest threat is the hordes of money (capital) looking for an even better opportunity to multiply itself.
Testosterone. It all comes down to that in the end.
But my second suggestion is apathy.
Religion
I voted “Other” - it’s hard to pin down, as they actually all overlap, but it’s a combo of global climate change, overpopulation, non-democratic regimes and poverty. But I’m inclined to say non-democracy is the biggest threat.
Grrr.
Meh.
I wish it were so. Democratic nations such as France, Britain, and Australia have been militarily active in Afghanistan and Iraq in the two Gulf Wars et seq.
The British SAS have been involved in Sierra Leone, the French Foreign Legion in Chad, and South Africa in Lesotho. To name but a few.
All of these military actions are justifiable from the larger powers point of view and frankly thank goodness some of these actions took place.
But there is no peace. And why destroy an ancient stone age country like Afghanistan? Has this democratic war really improved the world? I’m afraid democracy is no guarantee of peace.
My vote is for NYT columnists who look for simple problems because they are facing a deadline and the editor is banging on the door. I have not read the column in question but Mr. Brooks is capable of much better work.
Right wing radio hosts are a close second…
Two things
- it’s highly insulting to call Afghanistan a “stone age country”
-All the wars you mentioned happened at the intersection between democracies and dictatorships/non-democracies. Yes, “it takes two to tango”, and the democracies were sometimes the aggressor, but in general, post WWII, democracies don’t go to war against other democracies. If that holds, then more democracy reduces the likelihood of wars.
Quite right. I apologise and withdraw.