Is it possible to live in a world without war? In order to answer this complicated question one needs to examine arguments that may provide some sort of reasonable merit to justify why this statement is indeed correct. As far as we know war has been a part of human history and civilisation since prehistoric times, so for one to simply assume that a world without war is inevitable is indeed incorrect. (Brodie: 1973, 276) This presumption imbedded into people's mind is deemed as relatively parochial, therefore needs fundamental change in order for societies to prevent future wars. To clarify this statement this essay shall be structured around, war, its definition, history, causes, the UN charter, human psyche and finally how to achieve perpetual peace.

War is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as a quarrel usually between nations conducted by force. Thus leading one to believe that war is essentially derived when two groups are unable to communicate reasonably and meaningfully and secondly when a group or individuals nature is collectively aggressive or violent therefore encouraging war for oppressive purposes.

(Somerville: 1975, 199) Before the present day it was often easier to define what 'war' meant, but as we embarked onto the twentieth century war did not follow the general accepted rules of war any longer and the fighting armies were clearly becoming separate from the civilians. Unfortunately into today's society there is far less clarity. Warfare has increased in all areas of the world, and its happening at an astonishing rate that we aren't able to distinguish between civilian and military targets any longer. (Yarwood, Weaver: 1988,87)

The human consciousness has a lot to do with why humans are aggressive and why in certain circumstances one needs to resort to warfare as a means of solving a problem. (Esloka: 1987, 19) Assumptions have been made that the roots of war lie within human nature. (Henderson: 1998, 133) Some have even suggested that mankind may share the same biological mechanisms as an animal, making the human species hostile and aggressive. In this sense its suggests that the human race and animal kind both share the same "instinctive urge to fight, to dominate others, and to defend one's own territory". (Yarwood, Weaver: 1988, 88)

Wars in the past and now, have been believed to have eventuated from four broad reasons. These four reasons are some how able to justify warfare in today's society. One of the four broad reasons why a state or region feels the need to partake in warfare is to acquire the right to rule its own area thus establishing self-government. Secondly poverty. Here war occurs because the distribution of wealth, food and other resources isn't shared amongst one another in a society equally. Thirdly, for territory and resources, people fighting for more land and resources. States have become increasingly greedy in obtaining more territory and resources that they are prepared to risk all, including innocent civilian lives and of course the destruction of their homeland in order to gain territory and resources. Then finally there is ideology. People going to war to develop a set o

Some common words found in the essay are:
Germany Germany, Yarwood Weaver, Konrad Lorenz, Bonar Law, Hans Morgenthau, English Dictionary, , yarwood weaver, weaver 1988, yarwood weaver 1988, somerville 1975 199, 1975 199, somerville 1975, henderson 1998, today's society, territory resources, technological advances weapons, weaver 1988 92, types warfare, henderson 1998 133, advances weapons, partake warfare,
Approximate Word count = 1375
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)