Achieving Peace Through Militarism Essay -- Militarism

(the works cited are missing form this paper) The modern state’s approach to peace is primarily a justification for militarism and warfare. Examples of this include the proliferation of nuclear capabilities, the â€Å"war on terror,† and what time, money, and forces are dedicated to military action compared to peacekeeping missions through the U.N. The issue of nuclear warfare is a good example of militarism justified by supposed need for defense and security. Donald Davidson’s book explains that â€Å"the only conditions that justify killing are those necessary for the protection of human life, that is, defense of self and others (Davidson,1983).† However, a Quaker leader stated in 1982 that â€Å"the just-war theory is out of date. It makes nonsense when one is talking about nuclear weapons and nuclear war (Davidson, 1983).† He’s saying that when it comes to nuclear warfare, the Just War Doctrine becomes more or less useless and impossible to follow. When the Soviet Union and the U.S. were engaged in the Cold War, they built up their nuclear capabilities in an arms race claimed to be for safety and defense reasons. However, as these superpowers and their allies created their tens of thousands of nuclear weapons and stocked their arsenals, they continued to put the future of the human race in a more delicate and unstable position (Regehr, 1980). They developed more and more weapons including chemical, biological, and nuclear bombs, which led to counterforce weapons to fight against their military forces, which led to first strike weapons, which led to cruise missiles, leading up to the point where what they had set up seemed mad (Klare, 1978). In fact, their weaponry build up led to a term called Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), a form o... ... with the most power, influence, and military spending in the world. So if one of them does not want the U.N. to get involved in a situation, then they have the power to veto any decisions (Goldstein, 2008), making it more difficult for peace to be implemented in areas of their involvement. Even though modern states claim to strive for peace, there are many examples when their actions do not agree with that goal, instead focusing on militarism and warfare. This is shown through the creation and build up of nuclear weapons, the U.S.A.’s â€Å"war on terror,† and the world’s involvement and noninvolvement in the U.N.’s peacekeeping efforts. Hopefully the world will come to its senses one day and realize that their militaristic and destructive ways will not create a better world for anyone and will put turn their efforts and finances toward real peace and development plans.