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  #1  
Old Wednesday, November 01, 2017
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Default Are Modern wars not holy Wars?

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Are Modern Wars Not Holy Wars?

Outline
1.Introduction
• Holy Wars
• Evolution of war
2.Causes of Modern Wars
• Economic and Strategic Interests
• Territorial Disputes
• Ideologies
• Right to Self Determination
• Oppression and curtailing of rights
• Ethnic Conflict
3. Role of Religion in Modern Wars
4.Conclusion







History of war and conflict is almost as old as the history of mankind. The first case of conflict between humans can be traced back to the descendants of Adam when Cain murdered Abel due to a dispute over their offerings to God. Since then various conflicts and wars have erupted between humans over a broad range of issues. During the Middle Ages with the emergence and spread of major religions such as Christianity and Islam, religion became the cornerstone of the society. Subsequently the concept of holy wars emerged which were characterized by the authorization of a religious leader and were fought to achieve a certain religious goal. Therefore, religion became one of the main reasons for warfare and this resulted in major wars being fought to protect these religions such as the Prophetic Wars in Arabia, liberation of Jerusalem by the Muslims followed by the subsequent Crusades launched by the Christians, and Reconquista of Spain. But with the separation of Church and State and the emergence of independent kingdoms and nation states, religion was considered a personal issue of an individual and national and economic interests of nations have trumped religion as one of the main precursors of war. In the Encyclopedia of Wars, authors Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod have noted that before the 17th century, most of the reasons for war were explained and justified by religion. Since the 17th century till the modern time war has been conceived as a legitimate means of furthering the interests of individual sovereigns and nations. Most of the modern wars have not been motivated by religion rather they have been fought over economic and political interests, competing ideologies, the right to self determination, oppression and ethnic violence. Therefore, they cannot be termed as holy wars.

Economic and Strategic interests of countries have been the major reason for war and conflict in recent history and contemporary times. According to the realism school of thought in international relations theory, states are the rational and central actors in an anarchic international political system and they desire power for self preservation. Similarly, according to the neorealist perspective, state behavior is primarily driven by survival in the International system. Therefore, the state tries to survive by maximizing its power and trying to change the balance of power in its favor. Since the emergence of nation states, they have been competing with each other to maintain a balance of power between them or to try to change it their favor in order to ensure their survival and sovereignty. War is one of the strategies adopted by countries to to protect and promote their economic and strategic interests in order to maximize their power and ensure their survival. Most of the wars fought in the last century have been fought to protect commercial interest and trade routes. The Suez Crisis of 1956 led to the invasion of Egypt by France, United Kingdom and Israel in order to protect the important shipping route which was vital for the flow of oil from Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, there has also been a fierce competition between countries to ensure availability of natural resources which fuel their economic progress and this competition has resulted in major wars as well. The German invasion of Soviet Union during World War II was driven by the need to gain access of the oil reserves of Soviet Union which were vital for the German war effort. Similarly, the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in the first Gulf War was to capture the vast oil reserves of Kuwait in order to prevent the economic disintegration of Iraq which was under huge debt following its lengthy war with Iran. Furthermore, most of the recent wars have been shaped by the political and geostrategic interest of various countries. These wars can be attributed to the conflicting geostrategic interest of various competing powers such as increasing or maintain their sphere of influence, access to sea, natural resources, defense of allies and to protect their national security interests. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was due to retain Afghanistan in its sphere of influence and to achieve its historical objective of access to warm water sea ports. Recently, the US invasion of Iraq was on the pretext of defending its national security which was threatened by the possession of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq. Similarly, the Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War was to help its ally, decrease the influence of the United States in the Middle East and to establish itself as a major player in the Middle East owing to the strategic importance of the region and its oil fields. In addition to that, the Russian intervention in Ukraine and the subsequent annexation of Crimea was to counter the threat of NATO expansion and to protect its Black Sea Naval Base in Crimea which would had been under threat due to the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine. So, the political and geostrategic interests of various countries can be attributed as one of the major reasons of war and conflict in modern times.

Another major reason which has caused a lot of wars in modern times, is the territorial disputes among different countries. A lot of countries have emerged on the world map in the preceding two centuries. Most of the countries have been formed due to the break up of former countries or former colonial countries getting independence. These countries have emerged on the world map mostly by means of war or violent campaigns due to which there have been various territorial disputes between them. These territorial disputes have ignited both small conflicts and large scale wars between countries. Pakistan and India have fought three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Recently the 1999 Kargil War fought between Pakistan and India was over the disputed Siachen Glacier in Kashmir. Similarly, the four day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2016 was fought over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. In addition to that in 2012, Sudan and South Sudan fought a brief war over oil rich disputed regions claimed by both sides. Hence, territorial disputes are one of the reasons for modern wars.

Moreover, ideological differences between different groups have been one of the major sources of conflicts. Different group and countries have sought to promote or in some cases impose their ideologies on others. This has led to conflict between the supporters of that particular ideology and their allies. Most of the conflicts during the Cold War such as the Korean War and Vietnam War have been fought between the competing forces of communist east and the capitalist west. Similarly, the conflict between FARC rebels and the government of Colombia has been motivated by their competing ideologies. Moreover, according to most experts, the war on terror is also being fought on an ideological basis where different terrorist groups are using terrorism to promote and achieve their ideological aims. The War against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Taliban in Afghanistan, Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al Shahab in Somalia are all being fought against these extremist groups who use terrorism in order to impose their ideologies.

Additionally, Ethnic conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups over misallocation of resources, inequality or injustice has led to some of the most violent conflicts in recent times. The dynamic nature of the international political system and the emergence of numerous countries during the recent century has significantly altered the ethnic composition of some regions. This ethnic divide coupled with misallocation of resources, power and the threat to the freedom of ethnic groups has been one of the major reasons of war in modern times. The Yugoslav wars in the 1990s were primarily fought between Bosnians, Serbs, Croats and Albanians which resulted in the break up of Yugoslavia and the formation of several countries based on ethnicity. Similarly, the Rwanda and Burundi Civil Wars in Africa were a result of ethnic tensions between Hutus and Tutsis. In addition to that the Sri Lankan Civil war was also an ethnic based conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils of Sri Lanka. The ongoing South Sudan Civil War is also a result of ethnic conflict between numerous tribes which inhabit it. Accordingly, ethnic conflict is one of the reasons of war in modern times.

In addition to that, the right of people to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no interference from outside has been the basic principle on which independence wars were fought against occupying states during the last century. The right of people to self determination was first propagated during the first world war and later became a part of the UN charter as well. This right to self determination has been the basis of independence wars fought by Asian and African countries against their colonizers. Currently the conflict between Turkey and Kurds is driven by the latters desire for the right to self determination.

Furthermore, oppression, denial of rights of citizens and socio-economic inequality has forced people to take up arms against their governments which has resulted in civil wars. Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes enforce strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedoms of its citizens. This leads to resentment among the population which results in armed struggle and eventually civil war. Most of the recent wars in the Middle East have been triggered by opposition of citizens against their governments. The ongoing Syrian Civil War was a result of heavy government crackdown on peaceful protestors which escalated in a full scale civil war. Moreover, socio-economic inequality as result of poor governance has also resulted in armed conflict. The Yemeni Civil war between the Houthi Rebels and the government was a result of years of economic mismanagement, poor governance and marginalization.

Although religion is an important part of many societies and cultures around the world but the separation of religion from state affairs over the years has reduced the role of religion in modern wars.
In the modern world religion plays an important role in many countries such as providing guidelines for legislation and conduct of social life to name a few. But over the years, the separation of religion from the affairs of the state has reduced the role of religion in modern wars. During the Middle Ages, most of the religions were in their nascent phase and faced threat from other religions. The Holy wars were fought to against the threats posed to religion such as suppression, distortion and occupation of holy sites. The early rulers used to derive their authority over their kingdoms through religion due to which religion use to play an influential role in the affairs of the state and it was used as justification for conducting wars. Overtime as religions became established and spread across the world, more people got accustomed to multiple religions in society which reduced the existential threats faced by religion. Furthermore, with the emergence of nation states, the role of religion in the affairs of the state began to decline. This has resulted in less wars being motivated or fought in the name of religion and more by other factors.

Although in history religion has been responsible for various Holy wars but in modern times wars between nations cannot be termed as Holy wars because they have not been motivated by religion rather they have been fought over economic and political interests, competing ideologies, the right to self determination, oppression and ethnic violence. Therefore, they cannot be termed as holy wars.
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Old Wednesday, November 01, 2017
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For 2018 aspirants:

Are Modern Wars not Holy Wars?

Note: I am unable to recall all the sub-points but the broad strokes of my essay were:

1.Introduction

a.Concept of Sacred and Profane: If people consider sth sacred and are willing to fight for it then it becomes a holy war

b.Thesis Statement – yes, modern wars are holy wars

2.Hunting and Gathering Societies – Tribal values considered sacred – wars for decades

3.Settled societies - concept of religion took its roots – Holy Wars took the shape of religious wars

a.Crusades

b.Thirty Years’ War in Europe

4.Concept of nation-state became sacred – Two world Wars

5.Sacred concepts of Capitalism and Communism

6.Now once again Holy Wars have, to a great extent, become religious – refer to clash of civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington, if feel necessary

7.Conclusion (The concept of sacredness was, and still is, the root of any conflict. Hence, modern wars are as much holy as were the previous ones.)

Key: Don't confuse religious wars with holy wars. Religious wars were just one example of holy wars. This will immensely broaden the horizon of your essay.



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Old Thursday, November 02, 2017
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Really appreciate your feedback. You wrote in favour of modern wars being holy wars and your outline is convincing but here I am taking the Opposite stance. How do you find my essay in terms of coherence, relevance and its reasoning?
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Old Wednesday, November 06, 2019
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Good.
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Old Tuesday, December 15, 2020
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over all it is appreciating one.
the only area on which you could focus more was the frequent use of Transitions in the begging of almost every paragraph.
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