MICRO AND MACRO THEORIES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE FOCUS ON ‘WHY IS THERE WAR’ Essay Sample

INTRODUCTION
Countries exist to interact with other countries and states within the international arena. Thus, no country or nation is an island unto itself. As a result of this, isolation from international activities becomes incredibly impossible. Inside course of interaction nations tries to gain advantage over other countries, and this has been the basis of conflict and disagreement. Sometimes, if this can be not properly handled it'll result in war.
Scholars from several academic disciplines have posited many factors of war. Thus, the excellent debate more than why war happens has been approached from a variety of dimension. To your historians, scholars like A.J. P. Taylor famously described wars as becoming like targeted visitors accidents. But this process has been criticized during the view that some leaders of states make conscious choice in embarking in war and this really is not accidental.

For the Psychologist, human beings, particularly men are inherently violent. This violence displacement in which an individual transfers their grievances into bias and hatred against other ethnic groups, nations, or ideologies “(Wikibooks: 2005). Other psychologists argue that the mental unbalanced nation of men who rule and control a nation, combine with their human temperament has been the basis on the occurrence of war. “This school argues leaders that seek war such as Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin have been mentally abnormal; diagnostic tests process, just like election, could prevent these types from coming to power, war would end”. (ibid.). The Anthropologists see the occurrence of war as being a fundamentally cultural, learnt by nurture rather than nature. The Sociologists have Plethora of perspective in seeing the occurrence of war. Some see war as the product of domestic conditions, with only the target of aggression getting determined by international realities. Others that differ inside the conventional method argue that it is the choice of statesmen and the geopolitical situation that leads to war. The Economist argues war can be seen as an outgrowth of economic competition in a chaotic and competitive international system.
Having looked at the different and divergent viewpoint from which these scholars from different discipline has posited as the trigger of war, this write up tend to contemplate the political aspect of why war occurs. Due to this, numerous theories from the political science field would be employed to enumerate the reason behind the occurrence of war.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Political science has been described as being a hospitable umbrella for numerous disciplines all connected somehow with the operations of federal government or people acting in relation to government.
According to Alfred Cobban, as quoted in Oyediran (1998:3), Political Science is really a devise invented by university teachers for avoiding that harmful subject politics with out achieving Sciences”.
Thus, political science is that social science discipline that seek to learn federal government and how politics that has to complete with the use of power, rule and authority in any human relationship is becoming conducted.
The discover of political science, the normative and also the positive procedure is adopted whilst scholars, just like Plato and Aristotle sought to identify the characteristics of politics, their reasons and effects, leaving aside moral judgements about their goodness or badness. Therefore, it is noticed that current political scientists adopt a positive theory to problems that pertain for the field of study, hence, ”what should be”. (Robert Dahl cited by Gerring, 2005:2).
THEORY: Theory is defined as abstraction in the true world so that you can give explanation to phenomenon. Thus, theories give explanation to the relationship that exists among variables. Theories are tested hypotheses which are usually accepted it is applied through known data to give an explanation for the unknown.WAR: War is also defined as conflict that arises from disagreement, which result into military combat and also the end outcomes that may be destruction of lives and properties.
War can also be classified into civil wars and foreign wars. Civil wars, are those people wars that occur within a country or a region because of the emergence of factions which are loyal to an identified group. A typical illustration of civil war in modern-day time may be the civil war in Liberia in the 1990s, in between late Samuel Deo faction and Charles Taylor faction. An additional typical example of civil war will be the 1967 to 1970 civil war in Nigeria, among the Federal troop and the Biafra faction that seek to secede from the Nigeria Federation.
Foreign war is war that involves combat in between or in between sovereign country or states. Illustration of this is World War 1 and Globe War II.
In recent times the war in between Iraq and Kuwait, and also the US Allied Forces during the 1990s.
Another version of war in modern political globe stands out as the cold war that had existed after the globe war associated of the bipolar bloc i.e. the eastern bloc and also the western bloc. This cold war is in contrast to the real combat war wherever physical and military combat is carried out, but it has to try and do with war in international arena, that pertains to foreign policies and international pacts and agreement, that have a tendency being contended for:
This cold war has created numerous nations to help either with the two factions. But, some countries, like in Africa adopt yet another stand, the Non Aligned Movement is pursued as the foreign policies in these black nation. The cold war suddenly collapse in 1989, this brought an end for the bipolar structure of the international system.
POLITICAL THEORIES On the OCCURRENCE OF WAR
Political theories over a emergence of land can also be used to explain the occurrence of war. Here, the Hobbessian theory of state as well as the force theory are readily applicable to why region engage in war.
The Hobbissian theory postulated by Thomas Hobbes, explain the human state of existence in what he named the “state of nature”. In accordance with him, “nature has made man so equal in faculties from the entire body and mind and while there be discovered a single man sometimes manifestly stronger in system or of quicker mind than another isn't considerable as that one man can claim to himself any benefit to which an additional may perhaps not possess in addition to he” (Hobbes, 1946). The equality of man here methods they tend to nurse the exact same aspirations and desires, ends and the exact same hope. But the uniformity of aspiration tend being evoke dilemma mainly because the resources e.g. power, political influence, is really a scarce resource that will not go round every body. Thus, it grow to be problematic as soon as two individuals desire the exact same thing, which they can not each obtain, they're possibly being enemies and usually will seek to destroy 1 another. In applying this scenario to sovereign states, the scarce resources that each country seeks to acquire for itself, this brings about competition and invariably trigger the emergence of war, if such competition gets to the extreme as well as the level of tolerance becomes unbearable. Based on Ighadola (2000: 12), “human competitiveness for status symbols are always characterized by fighting exactly where this occurs outside the preview of any settled and civilized state, the picture from the “state of nature” comes on the fore boldly”.

The region of nature as stipulated by Thomas Hobbes, will be the time once men lived with no a common power to retain them in check; i.e. each man is often a government and law unto himself, there is no formal contract towards establishment of nation and government. In nation of nature, war of each man against each man was the perceptual condition of human relations. Thus, man is brutal and exhibited a hostile tendency to the people around him. It is also argued that, “War, as Hobbes used the concept, did not necessarily denote true fighting, rather it meant the disposition to fight” (ibid) Man during the region of nature did not engage in perpetual warfare, he was only perpetually inclined to fight for getting what he desired and to protect what he already possessed. The inclination in man to be aggressive in competition and fight is moderated by the fear of death. Thus, the disposition to fight to is extra heightened by the absence of centralized authority. Within the international political arena previous to the emergence of international firm like the United Nation, the broke out of World War I and also the emergence of World War II, is because of absence of a powerful centralized International authority. The League of Nations collapsed as a result of the Second World War. This led towards emergence in the United Nations; that's acting like a centralized authority within the international arena, in preventing the outbreak of conflicts between countries or states.

Another angle from the Hobbessains theory sees Man’s selfishness and self- seeking nature ensures, without a superior restraining force, the condition with the nation of nature that would remain permanent. This final results in a threat for the condusive actualization of human potentials and insecurity. In applying this towards the emergence of wars in between nations, it is seen that the selfishness and self-seeking nature of some region has prompted them into encroaching to the rightful possession of other nation. So that you can defend their possession, these other country would recourse to protect itself by engaging in war. Most times, this has been the base of war in between nations.

Thus, Hobbes has proffered a centralized authority that is imposed in one individual like a product or service to avert this state of nature, so as to prevent the brutish and aggressive nature in man, and thus, reducing the outbreak of war.

Critics have pointed out that Hobbes advocacy of absolute power puts a hole in his argument. The central authority or sovereign must operate the law made, pretty and equitably among the people not absolute authority in 1 man. Thus, central power is advocated that is certainly democratic, in place of the sovereign ruler of Hobbes. That is since the sovereign ruler is taken from society and has its unique selfish desire, that may lead to autocratic rule, i.e., he can't be outside society and as a result cannot be over the law. (ibid:15).

Another political theory that can be use to advocate for your emergence of war could be the Marxist theory. Karl Marx theory concentrates each on political and economic perspective of the state. In his view, the society is divided into 2 primary classes, i.e. the bourgeoisie and the proletariats, and this has often been the driving force behind conflict in society and its attendant social change.

Marxist theory of war argues that all war grows out of the class war. It sees wars as imperial ventures to improve the power in the ruling class and divide the proletariat in the world by pitting them against every other for contrived ideals just like nationalism or religion. ( Wikibooks, 2005).

Marx and Engels posited during the German ideology that with all of the mischief’s contradictions and crisis inherent inside the capitalist mode of production, the proletariat bears the entire burden with out enjoying its advantages, they turn out to be isolated from society. Getting been driven for the wall, they are forced to the most decided antagonism to the other class mainly because an alienated man is a revolutionary man. (Marx, et al, 1977). Hence, Karl Marx see wars as being a natural outgro9wth on the free industry and class system, and tend not to disappear until a globe revolution occurs. Based on Ighodalo (2000:20), “the expectation of Marx is how the destruction from the capitalist procedure would result in the end of class antagonism, because the basis of it household ownership would had been eliminated thereby making a classless society in which all give in accordance with his/ her capacity and receive in accordance with his/ her needs.”

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