Most of us remain confused by the prevalence of war, but we feel that at least the people fighting them knew what they were getting in to. But that’s not always true?it turns out that, increasingly, wars all around the world are being fought by children. And the longer this keeps happening, the less likely it is that there will be peace.
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Why do humans continually go to war? Are wars always started for profit motives? Scientists are divided on question of whether humans are innately peace-loving or aggressive.
Heather Whipps writes in LiveScience.com that scientists are studying Australopithecus afarensis, an early ancestor who lived five million years ago. He was small and furry and not strong enough to do much fighting, so scientists assume he was definitely peace-loving. He was mostly a vegetarian although, like today’s chimps, he dined on insects when he could get them. Researcher Robert Sussman says this doesn’t fit in with the stereotypical image of the “cave man” as a spear wielding hunter.
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As American power wanes due to military and political failures, other nations are seeking to take advantage of the vacuum being left behind, and now China has threatened the United States with nuclear retaliation if we attempt to help our ally Taiwan if mainland China decides to invade. The London Financial Times reports quotes General Zhu Chenghu as saying that in such as scenario, “I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons. If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond.” Chinese authority Rick Fisher reminds us that China’s official doctrine has been not to use nuclear weapons in a first strike attack. China held its first atomic weapons test in 1964.
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Newswise – About 20% of all nations in the world face a serious risk ofcivil war or governmental collapse, and a half dozen of themare at high risk of future mass genocides, according to anew report. The greatest risks are in Sub-Saharan Africa andthe Muslim world. Nearly half of the 161 nations studied arefacing serious threats that may require internationalaction. The “Peace and Conflict 2005” report writer RobertGurr says, “We are witnessing the end of the post-Soviet eraof conflict and the rise of a more globalized threat thattranscends borders.The strategies that worked so wellresolving dozens of bloody national conflicts over the past15 years may not be adequate to the emerging challenges.”
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