Shahid 1 2013-10-0148 Bilal Shahid SS100: Writing & Communication Section 8 12.11.

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War has never successfully resolved any international dispute

When it comes to discussion of international relations between the nations worldwide, the word war often comes to our mind and becomes an important factor in determining international affairs. But, we must first look into the meaning of war and see how it becomes an obstinate hurdle in improving relations between two or more countries. War, in general, is interpreted as an armed conflict in pursuit of a geo-political objective. In his book, On War, Prussian military theoretician Carl Von Clausewitz calls war the "continuation of political intercourse, carried on with other means" (87). War is an interaction in which two or three or more opposing forces have a struggle of wills(Clausewitz 77). So, we realize that settlement of a dispute becomes diffcult when there are conflicting ideas and especially when this is done by the use of force. When we observe carefully we will find that war is morally and ethically wrong because taking lives of innocent civilians for political or other ends cannot be justified, after all, life is sacred. There can be several factors that initiate war or create war-like circumstances. And this brongs us to this question: Why has the world gone through the cruelty of wars?

Shahid 2 Competition for resources, violation of trritorial rights and race for nuclear weapons are just a few causes. But, we will restrict our discussion to how war has actually failed to resolve international disputes with regard to violation of territorial rights or unsettled disputes due to threats to the international community. The Kashmir issue provides the best example of an unresolved international dispute between Pakistan and India, two nations of the Indian Subcontinent that plunged into war soon after their independence in 1947 over a disputed territory, the valley of Kashmir. Both countries claim it to be a part of its terriotry and so this became a reason, directly or indirectly for the three wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971. But, no wonder that all three wars have not helped to resolve the dispute to date. In fact, the wars did nothing but to aggravate not only their forign relations with each other but also with other allies and friends. This history of cold relations has created a political gulf in South Asia. The Kashmir issue is still a hot debate for both the countries and there has been no progress even after US intervention into the matter. Perhaps, the wars that took place in the past have left unremovable marks. Had there not been any war, the matter could have been successfully resolved through mutual consent and leniency from both sides. Ever since 1947, the international community has watched the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with foreboding, lest the conflict escalate into another war. (Schofield xiv) This supportive piece from a historians work provides insight into the intense nature of the dispute. There has been constant fear of war which had truly shown up in the past. The issue could have been better discussed through pacts or treaties rather than fruitless wars. Now, if we analyse the consequences of these wars, we would realize that the countries have lost much more than just a piece of land. Colossal loss of life and

Shahid 3 wastage of resources as well as the economic disadvantages due to huge sums being spent on defence and support of armies have left the populations of the two nations deprived of many privileges and sown seeds of hatred among the people while the two nations still have no solution to the Kashmir issue. However, they have developed nuclear weapons and are ready to take up arms even if any trivial issue arises. Has war settled the Kashmir issue? The answer simply lies in the dispute being unresolved till date. We also see that the US-Afghanistan war and the USIraq war have created this current scenario of increased hostility for US among the local people and has given rise to new terrorist groups and given impetus to the established ones. Prior to the US-Iraq war, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction posed a threat to their security and that of their regional allies. In 2002, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that called for Iraq to completely cooperate with U.N. weapon inspectors to verify that Iraq was not in possession of such weapons and long-range missiles. The inspectors found no such evidence, but could not verify the accuracy of Iraq's weapon declarations. After the war had ended and the US could not find the weapons of mass destruction, the soverignty of Iraq had been trampled down by force and the objective of the war stood nowhere. The threat to the international community, as propsed by the United States, seems to have been successfully dealt with. But, was war the only solution to the socalled menace to the world peace? The inter-linked result of the fruitless US- Afghanistan war has also not uprooted Al-Qaeda nor killed the so-called mastermind, Osam Bin Laden. The only result is that the US war on terrorism has also not successfully eliminated terrorism so far even after

Shahid 4 years of occupancy of Afghan borders. So, the international dispute of Afghanistan with US has not been resolved in the true sense. However, as far as international disputes are concerned they can be successfully resolved through non-war strategies. The US could have gained UNs further support to eliminate its worries against international security threats and not have waged war against Iraq and Afghanistan, dismantling the peace of the region for the years to come. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is an ongoing dispute between Israel and the Palestinian State. Although the conflict is multifactorial, the major concerns are national security, control of Jerusalem, land and water rights, religious issues and refugee crisis. The violence resulting from the conflict has prompted other security and human rights issues on both sides and internationally. But, the ongoing situations only reveal that a war would not be a solution to the problem and control over territory of Jerusalem by Israel would only create resentment amnog Palestinians, but agreement could be brought about by further peace pacts and treaties. In case of a war in the future, the whole world would become a battlefront and be divided among allies and the conflict can be more serious than what seems at present. The issues would remain unsettled and war may not achieve peace in the region although it may gain a piece of land. The idea of war being unable to resolve an international dispute is strengthened by the outcomes of Second World War. When we look into the causes of World War II we find the nationalistic tensions, unresolved issues, and resentments resulting from the First World War led the nations into a chaos which resulted in the inevitable clash. It was clear from the serious consequenses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that wars have only longterm horacious effects.

Shahid 5 The two strong nuclear powers of today, Russia and US, have agreed upon decreasing their nuclear assets as they too have realized through the aftermath of recent wars that the damage that could be done if a Third World War occurs could be much greater. Many social and humanitarian organizations are also trying to prevent any further armed conflict and find ways to settle international disputes. So, this brings us to the conclusion that mutual alliances and peace pacts are a better alternative to the malicious war for it resolves no dispute and has never successfully resolved any. War has rarely been beneficial for any nation as mentioned in an article in the Times Magazine-US edition: The also suffer who do not fight because war may settle a dispute in short-term, but it leaves its long-term adverse effects on the internationl community. War, on the whole, is: an abuse of human rights; a violation of world peace and a step towards ultimate destruction. (1407 words )

Shahid 6 Works Cited Background for War: The Neutrals. Time Magazine--US Edition. Monday, Aug. 14. 1939. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761839-8,00.html> Clausewitz, Carl Von. On War. New Jersey, US: Princeton University Press,1976. Print. Schofield, Victoria. Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War. New York: IB Tauris & Co., 2003. Print.