Session 22: The concept that is war

Theories of war and peace by Jack S.levy discusses the concept of war in his article. War has always remained recurring throughout the history of the world and Levy tries to dig into the philosophy and theory that can help in understanding this concept of war. The idea of war has always remained closely related to security and power. 

War is defined by author as large scale organized violence between politically defined groups. Over the course of time, the nature of war have changed owing to massive development in international relations theories and technological advancements in weapons. Furthermore the coming of nuclear age have transformed the concept of war and, in a way, have also reduced the frequency of war. The fact a nuclear conflict have the ability to cause utter destruction have global state actors vary of its threat have lead to follow alternative means of dispute resolution. the occurrence might have been reduced but this has further led other types of conflicts such civil disputes, secessionist movements and proxy wars between states. The nature of conflict might have changes and full scale wars are rarely seen but the level of death and destruction have remained steady.

The two great war of twentieth century were landmark events in history that changed the course of international politics and lead world leaders to search alternatives means of dispute settlement. But on the other, It has also made states more insecure a about their concerned about their survival and security. The development of nuclear by a country like Pakistan or North Korea have disrupted the balance of power in the global arena and have made actors like these major threat for major powers. Nuclear revolution can be seen both positive and negative way. On one hand it might have reduced the concurrence of war but it has also sparked an eternal fear of nuclear conflict that can lead destruction of epic proportions.