A quick look at any newspaper will give the most casual follower of world events an insight into the current tension gripping the international community. Riots in Iran continue and have widened the gap between the Iranian government and the UK and US. North Korea continues to defy United Nations sanctions. The Honduras crisis continues, the African Union has pulled out of the International Criminal Court and the Israeli and Palestinian conflict continues. In addition to this, tension and fighting remains a constant in Georgia, Iraq and Afghanistan. So the obvious question is, are we heading for another world war?
These types of patterns have occurred many times before. World wide tension came to a head in the early twentieth century with two world wars and countless smaller conflicts. What was the result of these wars? Utter destruction and desolation is an obvious answer but if we look at the modern state of these countries another result is apparent. There is no whisper of tension remaining between former world war enemies in Europe. France and Germany have become strong allies and the UK continues to engage with the mainland. These wars were awful, but they were cathartic.
Compare this situation to the Cold War of the late twentieth century. There was a huge level of tension between these countries with a constant threat of war hanging over the heads of every citizen across the world. However, war between Russia and America never broke out and tension between these countries has never been fully dissipated. The "cult of the leader" remains strong in both countries and this is often founded on governments defining themselves in contrast to the old enemy.
Make no mistake, I am a committed pacifist but it seems that rising and underlying tension very rarely is solved by anything except war.
-The English Student
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