Strict border control
(2023)

Arnab Guha

19th March 2023

The Ideological Divide: Left vs. Right on War

Humans have been waging war on each other since the dawn of civilization and the formation of our society. Though there are archaeological reveals which showed the tribal communities fighting each other, the first documented war was the Sumerian war in 2700 BCE which took place in Mesopotamia. Since then, humans have been waging war on each other, including nations, tribes, and giant empires fighting to uplift their beliefs and values in this society. As the world progressed, so did the war. Due to the nature of the topic and its subjectivity, the Roman and Greek people had different political ideologies, so the term political ideology became famous during the 18th to 19th centuries. During this time, ideas such as democracy, natural rights, and the separation of powers gained popularity. With countless revolutions and freedom fights going around the globe, such as the French revolution, this led to the birth of new ideologies such as totalitarianism, socialism, communism, fascism, and others. Political ideology continues to evolve and adapt to changing social and political circumstances. With the fast-paced industrialization and the speed at which the world is evolving with technology and achieving singularity, it will be soon before a new ideology emerges.

The beliefs of leftists and rightists on war reflect their contrasting ideological perspectives, with each group emphasizing distinct values and priorities in their approach to conflict and military intervention. This contrast is the aspect I find the most interesting in international relations. In this essay, I will cover these contrasts in detail and use them to explain why I find this aspect the most interesting. Please note that I thoroughly acknowledge the spectrum between these two sides, but due to the word limit, we will not be talking about the ideologies in between. Also, the relationship between political ideology and war is complex, and plenty of factors come into play when we talk about wars.

Why do we have wars?

Before we begin, let us ask ourselves. Why do we have wars, to begin with? International relations being an extremely subjective course, we are bound to get different responses.

Clausewitz believes that a "continuation of politics causes war by other means" (Edkins and Zehfuss, year 512). Arendt believes that war is caused when "power structures break down, and in fact, only serves to expose the weakness of the regime that deploys it"(512). He argues that "violence is not the continuation, but the opposite of power"(512). Even in a ted talk by Hector Garcia, he believes war is caused due to violence among men to gain a reproductive advantage (Garcia). Overall, the reasons for wars are varied and complex, and it is crucial to consider multiple perspectives to understand the phenomenon fully.

Rightist Ideology (Left Wing vs…)

People whose beliefs are inclined more toward the right usually have conservative values and follow the "Laissez-Faire"(Team2) approach, which roughly translates as "to leave it be." They tend to believe that social and economic inequality is inevitable. Even on the right wing, some people lie between authoritarian and libertarian. When it comes to war, they tend to have a more favorable view of war. Ethically, they believe losing a few life is worth it if it saves countless lives in the long term. Right-wingers tend to be sterner with their foreign values and, as a result, believe in dominance and advocate for pre-emptive strikes against potential enemies. They value nationalism and the security of their country over diplomatic efforts. This feeling of nationalism plays a crucial role in right-wing beliefs, and as a result, they tend to prioritize their own beliefs rather than the beliefs of other countries. They are willing to use war to secure specific resources to increase their strength in the international playing field. Do keep in mind that these are broad generalizations and there will be people who are right-wingers but do not share such beliefs.

Leftist Ideology (Left Wing vs … )

In short, they tend to see war as a final solution only and only prefer using war under certain situations, such as to prevent mass genocide and to protect human rights. Left-wing ideologies tend to be pacifist and anti-war and believe in non-violence. Rather than going to war, they prefer coming up with a solution in diplomatic meetings. They also believe in the "Keynesian approach"( Team1) and, as a result, have self-government interventionist values in economics. Many on the left oppose imperialism, particularly when it comes to Western nations interfering in the affairs of other countries. People may interpret these measures as motivated by economic or geopolitical objectives rather than a genuine desire to advance democracy or human rights. As a result, they may be suspicious of military involvement, primarily when conducted by Western countries. Such ideologies believe that military action never solves the root of the problem. As a result, they strive to solve the root cause of the problem using economics and geopolitical interests by addressing the root causes and diplomatic or political remedies since they are more effective at preventing future conflicts.

Why do i find this aspect of international relations interesting?

I am quite an empathetic person. No matter what the other person believes in, even if it goes against my belief, to a certain extent, I can always see why the person would believe that, and this holds true for me, with a large majority of the population. When we try to analyze the contrast between the two opposing bodies, it sheds a glimpse of light on how humans share a biological similarity and can have the opposite view of the world.

"Thorpe classified learning into five categories: habituation, classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, latent learning, and insight learning"( Bateson). The development of these five categories of human behavior is the driving cause of how they develop as a person. War is a sensitive subject. As a result, the hidden emotion of people come out. They are more truthful and genuine with what they say and believe in. As someone who wants to get into behavioral economics and value finance, how a human behaves matters a lot. While attending a lecture by Prof. Sanjay Bakshi, he mentioned a rather interesting point. "Humans are not rational creatures, and they are rationalizing creatures"( Prof. Sanjay…). As mentioned before, the hidden emotion of a person is crucial in financial marketing to estimate market trends and value investing. Furthermore, understanding political ideologies can be crucial.

Conclusion

In the end, it is super hard to understand how politics and war are related. People's thoughts and feelings about politics influence how they think about fighting and using the military. The big differences between left and right beliefs give us some hints about why they view war differently. Right-wingers think that war is essential to achieve their goals, but left-wingers think peace and talking things out are better. However, there is more to war than just politics; there are other things involved too. The reasons for wars can be super complicated and involve lots of factors. To understand war, you got to look at things from different points of view. Even though it is not easy to figure out, looking at how left and right people think about war can help us see how they see the world and how they deal with problems and conflicts

Work Cited

Bateson, P. “Why are individuals so different from each other?.” Heredity vol.

115,4 (2015): 285-92. doi:10.1038/hdy.2014.103

Edkins, Jenny, and Maja Zehfuss. Global Politics: A New Introduction, Second Edition. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.

Garcia, Hector. “Why Do We Make War?: Hector Garcia: TEDxSanAntonio.” YouTube, TedX, 8 Jan. 2020, https://youtu.be/Y14X-lU7X70.

“Left Wing vs Right Wing.” Diffen, https://www.diffen.com/difference/Left_Wing_vs_Right_Wing.

“Prof. Sanjay Bakshi's Website.” Prof. Sanjay Bakshi, https://www.sanjaybakshi.net/.

Team1, The Investopedia. “Keynesian Economics Theory: Definition and How It's Used.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 24 Jan. 2023, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/keynesianeconomics.asp.

Team2, The Investopedia. “What Is a Laissez-Faire Economy, and How Does It Work?” Investopedia, Investopedia, 25 Jan. 2023, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laissezfaire.asp.