Discussing Peace from the Lens of Books on Violence and War
Many people are unaware of the impact of conflicts, violence, and war on society. That’s why it’s sometimes necessary to peek into the causes and implications of war. Reading quality books will show us why we must seek to avert conflicts. Here are two books with profound details of peace and war.
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman
In this book, Grossman examines the psychological impact of killing in warfare and society. The Washington Post described Grossman’s work as “an illuminating account of how soldiers learn to kill and how they live with the experiences of having killed”. The book starts by recognizing that most humans have an inherent aversion towards killing and that most soldiers have a ‘conscientious objection’ to killing. It then explores the nature and source of this reluctance as a direct consequence of our humanity and the social conditioning of a democratic society designed to incorporate a sound basic value system into individuals.
According to the author, the average American has learned to be peace-loving — avoid conflict and condemn violence. But what happens when innocent young Americans grow up and join the military? In warfare, hesitation is dangerous and suicidal, thus, transforming innocent young people into killing machines is necessary. Grossman believes that war is essential for living. Albeit grisly, war is real, and soldiers need training to destroy the enemy efficiently without hesitation, guilt, or remorse. In essence, that natural and socially conditioned aversion must be decimated. The question of how the military goes about decimating this reluctance is the main preoccupation of this book.
The book claims that in the history of combat from Alexander the Great till World War II, only about 15% of warriors or soldiers were okay with killing the enemy, which was a problem for the U.S. military. Hence, the beginning of drastic steps toward reducing hesitation. The noticeable change began when the U.S. Army started incorporating Pavlovian operant conditioning ideas of Pavlov and B. F. Skinner.
They discovered that when people become angry or frightened, they stop thinking with their forebrain (the mind of a human being) and start thinking with their midbrain (which is indistinguishable from the mind of an animal). So they made training much more realistic, repetitive, and rewarding — training soldiers like you would an animal through classical and operant conditioning and stimulus-response. The military raised this traditional firing rate from 15% to 50% between WWII and the Korean War. By the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military had increased that percentage to about 95%. But there was a psychological toll to be paid for such training methods.
Grossman explains the balance between the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic system, noting how an individual’s fight-or-flight response is activated during extreme circumstances. The balance is lost, and the sympathetic nervous system controls the body’s energy for survival. In combat, it renders non-essential activities like digestion and bladder control useless. That’s why soldiers usually urinate or defecate in their pants as they undergo intense psychological stress. A huge physiological price is paid for a process this fierce. The backlash occurs as soon as the danger and the excitement are over, ushering in a powerful feeling of weariness.
It also becomes a problem to reintegrate such scarred, traumatized individuals back into society. Grossman wants more awareness and attention on this problem, the need to put veterans in some psychological decompression chamber, and more political support and efforts made towards the reclamation and desensitization of soldiers.
Many reviews of this book acknowledge the grueling reality and heavy toll of war that ‘On Killing’ paints. Others criticize Grossman’s flimsy justifications for America’s various war engagements and the acceptance of war as a necessary evil, necessitating controversial training methods. The book’s attempt to link the military’s training methods to a presence in popular media and video games is also a widely criticized weak link.
Nevertheless, this book is a curious and fascinating read that sheds light on the complexities of violence, providing insights for those working on conflict resolution and peacebuilding, and is a worthy addition to the literature on war, violence, and peace.
A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, by David Fromkin
The Middle East is notoriously the most troubled region of the world today. The ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict is a prime example. But why is this region so embroiled in violence? While several factors are in play, one unmistakable reason points to the historical and complex events trailing the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. The Ottoman Empire had sided with Germany in World War I. After its defeat, it disintegrated and was partitioned into several new territories, including Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The treaties and peace agreements that fashioned this partitioning were billed to bring peace after the horror of the just concluded world war. But they now appear to have done the opposite.
In this book, David Fromkin exposes how geopolitical forces, diplomatic ploys, and cultural factors shaped the creation of the modern Middle East. The book highlights the profound impact of World War I on the Middle East. It meticulously traces strategic decisions and the interplay of global politics that ultimately led to the doom of the Ottoman state, including the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, and the heavy involvement of the British and French in carving up the empire’s territories. It also highlights the participation of critical actors like Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, T.E. Lawrence, and Winston Churchill.
Fromkin demonstrates how these supposed peace agreements and treaties sowed the seeds of future conflicts and how arbitrary borders, decided without accounting for the region’s ethnic, historical, and religious peculiarities, set the stage for unending affrays. Nation-states like Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria emerged from that disintegration, and each has grappled with various challenges, including religious extremism, lack of identity, external influence from superior powers in the region like Saudi Arabia and from world powers like America and Russia, border disputes, tribal and sectarian rivalries, and religious conflicts. The Balfour Declaration and subsequent carving and establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 by the British Colonial government is another factor that’s been a source of enduring conflict in the region.
This book provides a deep understanding of the historical roots of conflicts in the region, a vital reservoir of historical lessons for scholars, policymakers, and anyone looking for a comprehensive exposition of the historical context of the modern Middle East. It provides insight into available avenues to restore sustained peace to the region.
In a time when the possibility of a third world war has never been more imminent, books like these serve as a reminder that conflict is costly and that peace is priceless!
Have you read any of them? Let me know what you think about them.
