PEACE EDUATION THEME 4:

CHALLENGING
THE WAR
z SYSTEM

Marjorie A. Miguel-Mendoza

Discussant
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Challenging the War System
The word “war” is from the Frankish-German word
“werra”, which means confusion, discord, or strife.

War- as an actual, intentional and widespread armed

conflict between political communities. Political
communities are entities which either are states or intend
to become states.

War is a classical or international if it is between states,or

civil or internal, it occurs between rival groups or
communities within a state.

(Stanford encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) (2005)).

Aggression and major armed conflicts are
z interchangeably with the word “war”.

 Aggression is defined by the United

Nations as the use of armed forces by
a State against the sovereignty.
Territorial integrity or political
independence of another State, or in
any other manner (
www.un-documents.net)
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 A major armed conflict is defined by Project
Ploughshares (2006) as a political conflict
in which armed fighting involves the armed
forces of at least one state (or one or more
armed forces factions seeking to gain
control of all or parts of the state), and in
which 1,000 people have been killed by the
warfare during the course of the conflict.
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What causes war?

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There are people who believe

that the human person is the
cause of war accepting as true
the contention that aggression
is an innate instinct
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The contention that aggression

is an unavoidable feature of
human nature is put forwarded
by both Sigmund Freud and
Konrad Lorenz (Krahe, in
Semin and Fiedler, 1996)
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This contention, however, was

challenged by the “Seville Statement
on Violence” endorsed by UNESCO.
This statement explains that war or
any other violent behavior is not
genetically programmed into our
human nature.
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The “violence is neither in

our evolutionary legacy nor
in our genes” and that “how
we act is shaped by how we
have been conditioned and
socialized.”
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Possible causes of War

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POSSIBLE CAUSES OF WAR
 Territorial disputes

 Lack of tolerance

 Ideological or power struggles

 A history of Colonialism and the process of

decolonization
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Territorial disputes
 Territorial disputes as the disagreement
between states or groups within a state
over where their homeland or borders
should be fixed.
The most notable territorial dispute in history
would be that between Israel and Palestine.
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Lack of tolerance
 Lack of tolerance for differences is an
emerging source of conflicts.
Differences may be in nationality, clan
membership, ethnicity or religious
affiliation.
Ideological or Power Struggles
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 An ideological is a set of beliefs which

serves as guide on how power should
be allocated or how a society should
function.
 The Communist Party in the
Philippines- New Peoples’ Army is an
example of ideological wars.
 The z Penguin Atlas of War and
Peace(2003) indicates that war today
are concentrated in the poorest
countries. Of the countries classified by
the United Nations Human
Development Report as showing low
development, 56% experienced civil
wars in 1997-2001.
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 Conversely, case study work

suggests that it is not the inequality
between individuals but the
inequality between groups, called
categorical inequality that breeds
conflicts.
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 Inequality between groups or

regions within a state produces
grievances that consequently
increase the chances of
rebellion.
Colonialism
z and the process of
decolonization

 A history of colonialism and the

process of decolonization is one other
cause of armed conflicts. Often, the
transfer of power becomes problematic
with groups within the country
competing for control and authority.
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Conflict can also be

caused by competition for :
 Resources

 Extreme abuse of human rights

 Desires of leaders to stay in power

 Narrow or extreme nationalism

 Sympathy for kin across borders

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The Effects of
War
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 The most horrible effect of war is

death. WHO (2002) reports that one
person die every 100 second each
day as a result of armed violence.
 The Effects of War
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 Commitment of atrocities

 Migration

 Weapons to proliferate

 Wars see children tread the battle

zones instead of play areas
 The following are consequences of war:
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 People lose their livelihoods and their access to

food supply.
 Loss of investments: destroy property and the
environment.
 Raze opportunities for tourism

 Wars disrupt children’s ‘ education

 Create fear and trauma

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Mitigating the Effects of War

Unitedz Nations is an international institution
that helping mitigate the effects of war.
As the lead mechanism for armed conflict
prevention, management and peacekeeping
work.
Peacebuilding is action to strengthen and
solidify a political settlement to avoid a return
to the conflict.
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The UN also has special courts that try

crimes of aggression . These are the
International Court of Justice, the
International Criminal Court, and the War
crimes Tribunals
The following
z
are the international organizations and movements
operate to prevent, manage and resolve violent conflict.

1. The Hague Appeal for Peace is a

movement that was initiated in May
1999, the Hague one of which is the
Global Campaign for Peace
Education (GCPE)
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2. The international Committee on

the Red Cross (ICRC) is a
humanitarian organization active in
80 countries that strives to protect
and assist the victims of armed
conflicts.
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3. The International Action Network

on Small Arms (IANSA), a global
movement against gun violence with
organizations working in 120
countries, works to stop the
proliferation and misuse of small
arms and light weapons.
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4. The International Campaign to

Ban Landmines is a global
network of organizations working
to eradicate antipersonnel
landmines.
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5. Amnesty International is a
worldwide movement of people
who campaign for internationally
recognized human rights to be
respected and protected.
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6. The Global Partnership for the

Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is
a global network of organizations present
in all world regions.
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7. There are also International

Faith-based Peace Movements
such as Pax Christi International,
which has members in over 50
countries.
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Non- Government Organizations are also
deeply engaged in mitigating the effects of war.

 The Balay Rehabilitation Center

 The “Bantay Ceasefire” in Mindanao

 Sulong CARHRIHL
Non- Government Organizations (NGOs) also carry out education
and training
z on conflict resolution to help build peoples’ capacity to
approach their conflict peacefully.

 The Center for Peace Education based

in Miriam College
 Religious Organizations such as the
ishops-Ulama Conference in the
Philippines composed of Christian
Bishops and Muslim Leaders.
 Various groups in the Philippines work to control
z arms and other weapons such as:
 The Philippine Action Networks to
Control Arms.
 Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines

 Philippine Campaign against Cluster

Munitions
 Nuclear- Free Philippines Coalition
Various treaties, agreements, resolutions and conventions were also
drafted toz mitigate the effects of war. Some of these are asfollows:

 The International Humanitarian Law

 UN Security Council Resolution 1325

 UN Security Council Resolution 1820

 The UN Programme of Action (UNPoA)

 The Ottawa Treaty

 The Convention on Cluster Munitions

Disarmament
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 Disarmament is a process of getting rid

of weapons while arms control is the
exercise of strict control over existing
ones. The goal is to reduce the
likelihood of war or at least mitigate its
effects.
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Peace Education and

the War System
Peacez Education and the War System

 The UNESCO Preamble states that

“if wars begin in the minds of men,
then it is in the minds of men that
defenses of peace must be
constructed.”
Peacez Education and the War System

 Peace education is one concrete

pathway to challenge war. “Peace
education seeks to develop a global
perspective on the problems and
understanding that humans are a
single species”.
Peacez Education and the War System

 Peace education can help challenge

thoughts that the world is divided into “good
guys and bad guys” and that winning over
the bad guys is the way to go.
 Peace education seeks to teach the concept
of oneness of the human race.
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 Differences are meant to enrich us,
not divide us.
 Education is a force that can help
reduce inter-group conflicts by
enlarging peoples’ social
identifications beyond parochial
ones.
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 Humans should understand that waging

war is a choice, not a manifest destiny.

 People who have learned the

consequences of violence, and have
reflected on alternative options would
not be easily swayed propaganda.
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 Teaching students peaceful conflict

resolution skills will also help learners
understand that conflicts may be
approached constructively and that
there are better workable alternatives to
aggression.
 All of zus should know:
 1. The importance of the oneness of the human family. that it is one
way of avoiding war. Peace. Peace should start at home; there can be
peace if there is oneness in all of us.

 2. The causes and effects of war. It is important to know the effect and
causes of war, by this we are able to analyze and balance the things we
must do to avoid any conflicts. If conflicts occur it is easy to analyze
where it started and what are the things needs to do to resolve it.

 3. Strategies to challenge the war system.

 To now the strategies of challenging war system is one way of promoting

the peace in all of us, in the way that it is by then to handle such any war
system if there will be.
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References:
Peace_Education_ebook_2010
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Thank you