Have Wars Ever Brought Peace?

War has existed at least as long as written history. Lawrence H. Keeley, a professor at the University of Illinois, in War Before Civilization, claims that 90-95% of known human societies have engaged in organised warfare. Some historians take the opposite stance arguing the lack of clear evidence for organised war in our prehistoric past. What is puzzling that many peaceful, non-military societies have existed throughout human history and still exist (Otterbein, Keith, 2004, How War Began. Texas A&M University Press).

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Contradictory Views in the War-Peace Debate

There are two contradictory views in the peace-war debate:

1. Prehistoric & primitive peoples were more peaceful than modern humans
2. Premodern peoples were more warlike.

On the whole, evidence points to a midway stance as warfare among primates, prehistoric people, early agriculturists, & primitive people have been influenced by contextual conditions, e.g., power structures, military organization, and whether coercive diplomacy worked or not.

Irenology and Polemology

Peace Studies (also called Irenology, derived from the Greek word for peace, eirini) is an inter-disciplinary effort aiming at the prevention, de-escalation, and resolution of conflicts.

War studies; on the other hand (also known as Polemology, derived from the Greek word for war, Poleimos) aims at the efficient attainment of victory in conflicts. The definition of “peace” varies among cultures, religions, and time periods, and there are many theories. In Gandhi’s vision of peace justice is an inherent and necessary aspect. For him peace requires the presence of functioning justice in addition to an absence of violence. Martin Luther King was of a similar mind when saying that “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.”

How Leaders Behave in Wars

Contemporary political leaders are so eager to talk about peace that they should start resembling doves with honorary doctorates in Irenology. This behaviour is totally in contrast to leaders from the past.

In the absence of a media climate like nowadays, leaders of past superpowers like Egypt, Assyria or Rome could afford to be brutally honest about their intentions in killing more efficiently. The Persians, the Assyrians, the Hebrews, the Egyptians all castrated their vanquished enemies with public ceremonies in order to demoralize and deter enemies. The Egyptian Pharaoh Meneptah proudly claims that in 1300 B.C.E., he had 13,230 penises cut off from the soldiers of an invading Libyan army (with six of those phalli belonging to generals). In the ancient days the threat of violence was the prime method of ensuring that one’s territory was not invaded, and the people were not robbed or raped by others. This threat had to be renewed constantly with fresh examples of gruesome acts.