Why do some people choose war over diplomacy?
I always ask myself one simple question: "Why do countries choose to go to war against themselves?" It feels like an easy question to answer, but it isn't.
For example, for 80% of my life, there has been war in the Middle East. While it is easy to say it is a religious war, we do not know exactly why the Middle East war is still going on after more than 20 years.
Because it is a war zone, it is easy to predict that people will die before they are supposed to, either as victims of war or on the wrong side of the conflict. People are killed in these areas simply for being of a certain nationality, and many of these war leaders are constantly assassinated.
The Cobra head analogy
However, you would think that if the cobra's head is cut off, the cobra is dead, but this is not the case. Unfortunately, some of these "cobra heads" have families: people who loved them and clearly took up arms to replace these slain terrorists, not because they had battles to fight, but because they wanted to avenge the deaths of their relatives.
For me, the war in the Middle East is largely meaningless. While we often think of it as a holy or religious war, I believe it is primarily a revenge war, I might be wrong, but it's one logical reason why it still continues
I believe it is a display of power by those at the top, and some of this senseless loyalty is passed on to innocent people who would rather listen to their emotions than follow logic.
Of course, the majority of those who should have stopped the war have died, but these people make certain to install lieutenants, who then appoint their own second in command, and this recruitment process keeps the war going, chronic, and retaliatory.
Flex of power
The reason I do not see the Middle Eastern wars as meaningful is that they resemble the world wars of the early 1900s. Obviously, you would think people would prefer peace and logic in 2025, but it just looked like the 1900s, when countries wanted to show off their military prowess and new shiny weapons.
It was reckless, meaningless, and insane. For example, if Trump declared war on China today, he will most likely be impeached because the first RPG can be fired. Why? Because countries in the 21st century prefer diplomacy over irrationality.
Nobody wants to give their lives in senseless battles anymore; this is not the GORYEO empire or an era in which a Korean emperor will choose to sacrifice the lives of the entire nation because he refuses to surrender.
Next-GEN weapon tech
War, in my opinion, is simply a way for powerful people to show off. It is a tool used by those in power, which is why I believe that whichever country or government develops the next-generation weapon of mass destruction will most likely want to go to war.
The concept of power flex emerges when a person discovers that they now possess a game-changing tool. Whatever technology we develop that can kill millions in a single second will almost certainly be used someday, even if it is not deployed immediately. *People cannot have power without choosing to test it.
This type of war is acute, rapid, and devastating; people learn their lessons after millions of lives and properties are lost, and then everyone moves on. This is not the type of war we see in the Middle East. The one we have there is chronic, meaning it is always present and brewing.
It is not about stealing or attempting to take money from neighboring countries; these wars are inherited, and the vendetta, beef, and anger is always passed down from father to son or from generation to generation. The war will always be ongoing because it is retaliatory, and no one wants to retreat and call for peace because they are constantly forced to retaliate.
Holy wars are the most destructive.
This is because man is naturally vengeful, and the only way for these wars to end is for the people of these countries to choose to be reasonable, to put an end to thoughts of vengeance, and to focus on progress.
There are no rewards for wars, only the endless dopamine of being correct, of winning, of endless bloodlust fueled by powerful men sitting in dark places and constantly supplying gullible people with bullets and landmines.
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Just this morning I and my friend we were actually talking about this... honestly why people will choose fight than talk, cause yesterday a fight broke out in our compound between two guys, we later settled it. But after that they were called together and talk peace.... and do I ask myself what they are talking now would have been discussed easily and reasonably among them instead of the fighting and then coming to now talk... to me its like shouting at a dead man for dying instead of having done something else to have survived, ....
Personally I love dialogue to fighting ... not like it shows weakness but instead it shows intelligence ....
I believe this countries just keep fighting themselves over what if you look carefully is a very simple case of understanding and avoid all the unnecessary killings ....
About military prowess and show offs isn't that what Russia and Ukraine trying to do?
I think sometimes some people don't want to be seen as weaklings or they just don't want others to see them otherwise, so they'll rather not choose peace and logic over war and conflict.
I had a particular post where someone came called me "stupid and referred to me as an idiot" on something that was completely resolvable, but I just let them go because wanting to satiate myself would have meant choosing to call them a goat or a useless person, but I let it go.
Choosing peace sometimes can be very uncomfortable, especially since you want to avenge yourself and make the other person feel what they've made you feel, but it's always better not to.
Ukraine was the victim of war, and Russia pulled all the plugs, but somehow I think their president is somehow guilty of a lot of things.
The truth in all this is people's different level of reasoning and IQ level ... the higher you go in life the more you realise how silly somethings we did as children are... now we grown up we just let somethings slid ...
I use to wonder when I see grown up men fighting... I just see them as children .. cause if sense is brought to bare that scene would have been avoided....
And funny enough we see this everyday
It's a pretty long and complicated topic there, it involves geopolitics too... If we look at Middle East we have sunni vs sciite, i highly doubt those two can live togheter in peace... But it would be too simplify reduce to that, nations are used by big powers for their proxy wars
Yemen devastated by civil war is nothing else but a proxy war of Iran on Israel, putting in Saudis in trouble too
Lebanon with hezbollah was an other proxy of Iran, now heavily weakened
Syria has just been used for a proxy war on Russia by US/EU/Turkey, with innocents dieing
I can go on forever, the point is, no one wants peace, big powers just play with smaller nations for their politics because if they wanted they could end any war
Exactly. That's what I feel. The war is easier to end, it just takes nothing to end the war, but the smaller nations and clueless foot soldiers are used by these other bigger nations to do their "war bidding"
As you've said, it's a complicated topic as well but the solutions are simply just easy. It's safe to say that some powerful nations just wants to keep pulling the strings and making the war continuous and endless. It's saddening
Honestly it's all about power and resources disguised as religion or ideology. The leaders profit while regular people suffer. Same story throughout history, follow the money trail that's all that's happening
Massive gains for the rulers, I agree, and that's probably how it's going to stay for a long time..
Human beings are sadly violent creatures. Throughout history what is remembered most are wars and battles, the fight for glory. The wars in the middle east will go on forever until everyone is dead, there's no other way it will stop. Afghanistan, same problem as are many parts of Africa, Asia, and even the Americas.
Wars usually happen when one leader sees an easy way to take more power, i.e. Putin in Ukraine. It backfired on him due to having too many "yes" men in his organization. The lust for power and money are the roots of war, and as humans it can't be eliminated, as sad as that is.
You're right. War is a form of glorification and power flex, but I wonder why many people still allow themselves to be used as foot soldiers.
I remember the wars in America, far back in 1700 and how it was bloody... Sadly this pattern of wars are still happening in Africa and the middle east.
Back in South Africa and some other countries, there was war for gold and diamond, and people have sadly been allowing themselves to be employed as manpower to kill their fellow humans.
I was thinking we suppose to see a future where we could allow civilization to replace endless wars and the crave for war, but it looks like the heart of man will always crave for conquest.
So true. It's like watching countries play with their expensive toys while real people suffer. We have the internet, global trade, diplomacy, why are we still solving problems like it's 1914? This makes zero sense in 2025 but unfortunately it's still ongoing
Yes, it's no longer the 90s, and we now have civil and human right laws in most democratic states, but it's hard to tell if these laws exists in many middle eastern states
This is a deep and painful analysis, especially when war is seen through the lens of inherited revenge.
Wars are tough to deal with. Even if the reason isn't that valid, I think all that hatred builds up, and they keep the war going on because of it. It won't stop unless both sides compromise but neither side is trying to do so.
Neither side will compromise as you've said. I think this is just as you've said it.. it will make the war continuous and endless for a long time
That's the painful part of this whole mess. Sometimes I wonder if people think that lives have a spare, and maybe after wasting lives in the name of war, those dead bodies will claim their spare lives and keep living again ..
it's unfortunate that people and fighting over unnecessary things than can be resolved peacefully . War initiated all because of revenge and power...so bad! I wish they realize that there is no reward for war!
Imo state state has been war-torn for the past five years, and they've killed a lot of people especially in my local government because of Biafra.
I haven't been able to travel there, because people allow themselves to be used by political juntas and kill themselves.
In Lagos, it's the figh for Tinubu, and that's why Nigeria never moves forward. At the end of the day it's the common man that actually suffers because they allow themselves to be manipulated.
Having some experience in living in a country that was in civil war, the thing that I realized is that wars aren't the same as they were in the past... Perhaps in the past, it was about power and showing off by rulers, but today, 99% of wars are driven by money and profit. If there is a conflict, 99% is because of money... Leaders don't care about the people, they care about their personal benefit, and wars are usually the most profitable tools to get rich... Especially as they blame religion, nationalities, etc, as main reasons for wars, keeping their hands "clean"...
On the other side, we (people) are responsible for being manipulated so easily... 😞
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I think people can choose to snap out of it, if if they choose to. In Nigeria many people are happy to be used as tools to fuel intertribal war, while politicians wins big. This is my big argument that no single individual is a beneficiary of war. Just like you've said, wars in the past are not as now, and it's sad that people allowed themselves to used as this..
unfortunately many people wants to inherit wars and become tools in the hands of politicians and there's no single benefit to the regular person on the stress.
I also come from a country that has experienced war, and funny enough many areas in Nigeria are still unhabitable because of war .
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I don't know... It's hard to believe that some people like wars... Except for assassins and paid killers... Most of the people have no idea what's happening, nor before, nor during, nor after the war... as they have been manipulated all the time...
What is devastating and sad to see is that the same tricks are used over and over again to start new wars... Are we really that stupid? 😞
I think we're not as wise as we think, or I like to think politicians knows what ticks the boxes of the people under them. They use these tactics to their advantage. I can tell you for a fact that it happens in many third world countries, like in Nigeria. Politicians knows how to run the game, they know how to manipulate people into voting them, and they use this same playbook all the time since 1960.
There are two major camps in war: the brainwashed and the profiteers. That's how they always have been and probably will be.
You're completely right about this. There has to be a winner and a loser in war situations. However I find it funny that after hundreds of years of fighting, people have still not evolved enough and still remains manipulable.
In the Middle East it's been going on for thousands of years already, on and off. As you said, this is a war inherited from a generation to the next.
We still have the animal brain, don't we?