STST1001- Assessment 1 Short Essay Dr Kyungwon Suh Georgia Harries U7482565
Throughout history, the frequency and intensity of war has significantly varied, and to the majority of society living in 2023, those would argue that generally war has declined, and so inherently, the world has become more peaceful. This argument is complex, and measuring the decline of war includes accounting for many factors, such as types of war, definitions of war, frequency and intensity, plus more (Gleditsch et al., 2013). On the other side of the argument, however, there are numerous strong arguments that there has not been a decline in war, and it is very much still a prevalent part of society. Within the debate over the decline of war, I challenge that the argument that war is not declining is fundamentally flawed. There has been an evident decline in interstate wars, international organizations are stronger and more influential than ever and the globe's states rely heavily on the economic interdependence which has formed with globalization. Since the end of World War II in 1945, there has been a significant decrease in the frequency and intensity of interstate wars. This has been labelled as the long peace, as there has been a significant amount of time in which the world has not seen large scale, interstate wars, such as the World Wars (Clauset, 2018). Interstate wars hold great significance and power, as, seen in history, these wars usually involve great powers, and cause some of the largest death rates (Gleditsch et al., 2013). The decline of interstate wars aligns with many factors, one of which is the invention of nuclear weapons (Crevald, 2005). With the introduction of these powerful weapons, a scenario of mutual assured destruction was created. With nuclear weapons available to many states, the breakout of a war increases the likelihood of one state utilising nuclear, in turn potentially causing other states to retaliate in the other way, Therefore, war is avoided at an increased level, as no state has the desire to bring about such a devastating turn of events. Nuclear weapons undeniably act as a deterrent for states to begin
interstate wars (Crevald, 2005). The decreasing war-related death rates also show how there has been a decline in war. The worldwide rate of death from interstate and civil war combined has declined overtime, "from almost 300 per 100,000 world population during World War II ... to less than 1 in the twenty-first century" (Gleditsch et al., 2013). The decline of interstate wars can also be closely linked to the increase of international organizations, which have proven to be effective in peace building and peace keeping, in turn supporting the decline of war. The immense rise of international organizations has undeniably shifted the pathway that states take when faced with conflict. International organizations promote peaceful conflict solving and management, and this has overtime largely contributed to the decline of war (Shannon, 2009). The United Nations, one of the globe's most influential international organizations, contains 193 member