Why do countries fight wars? Can war ever be justified?

why do countrys fight wars?

Wars. Just hearing the word just makes people flinch. Even though the amount of wars happening between countries has lessened than the past, there are still severe wars going on in the status quo. But first of all, what is the definition of a war? A war is a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state. An example of this is the Russia → Ukraine war, or the Israel → Gaza war. Some wars could be less violent than the others, but in most cases, it is violent, using guns, knives, missiles, bombs, and much more harmful things.

Firstly, why do countries fight wars? They fight wars, because It is their attempt to settle, by violence, disputes over political power, territorial and ethnic issues, and societal stresses such as injustice and poverty. Of course, wars could lead to a happier ending, and it could make the country / government better. However, the problem is that this is not always the case. Most wars just happen because the ruler of the country just wants more land. This is the case for the Ukraine and Russia war. Ukraine was a part of Russia a long time ago. However, Ukraine got free from Russia, and they started to live separately without any conflict ever since then. However, in early 2022, Russia demanded Ukraine back, and started a war between them, causing many people and children to die. This type of war is not good, because it’s caused only from greed and nothing else. If it’s a war that doesn’t harm others, like the Cold War, and if it’s a war that is for the good and sake for both countries, then it’s fine. However, wars like these are not acceptable. Harming innocent people, killing young children- it’s just too much. So in the end, we can see that having a war is not really something to be proud of.

Secondly, can war ever be justified? War being justified is a situation when a war is just only if waged by a legitimate authority. The answer is: yes, it should be justified. As I said before, it is unsafe and wrong to have a war just for one’s good (to have more land, resources, etc.). Having a war for self defense, or if the country wanted war because the land had been stolen in an unfair way, then that is a valid reason for having war, even if the best case is to not have it at all. In short, war can be justified because it would be safer and better towards every innocent citizens whose country is involved in the war.

In conclusion, this writing both discussed why countries fight wars and if it could ever be justified. We have learned that countries fight wars both for their greed and their goods, and that wars should be justified for the sake of all the innocent citizens in the world. In the future, I hope that the amount of wars would decrease or, even better, be gone forever. Because if that’s the case, the whole world would have a better society and be happier at the end of the day.