Weltschau

Prior to commencing this article, I, an academic with over two decades of experience investigating political violence, pondered for the first time the feasibility of a world devoid of conflicts and characterised by perpetual peace. While I have previously considered the management and resolution of small-scale conflicts within an academic framework focused on certain countries and regions, I had not thoroughly contemplated the solution to such a broad subject until I penned this piece.

An article published in the New York Times in 2003 posits that throughout a span of 3400 years, humanity experienced peace for a mere 268 days, or a mere 8% of the recorded history. Upon encountering this statistical figure, thoughts flooded back to Israeli historian Noah Harari’s statements wherein the author characterised Homo sapiens’ untamed side and claimed that it was responsible for the extinction of other human species, such as Homo Erectus. It is then beneficial to inquire about the subsequent inquiry: Does human nature inherently include violence, and violent wars in particular?

Steve Taylor, a senior lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Beckett University, gives the answer to this question in his book, The Fall: The Evidence for a Golden Age, 6,000 Years of Insanity, and the Dawning of a New Era. The author categorises societies into two distinct kinds in his book. The first of these is matriarchal societies like the Aborigens. They are written off as by their integration with nature and one another, absence of ego, and lack of private property. Nevertheless, these communities were under assault by the intrusive patriarchal, or the second type of community, due to global drought and famine. These invading communities subdued and took the territories of these peaceful peoples as a consequence of their raids. These invading communities were distinguished by their individualistic predispositions; thus, their individualistic viewpoints came to dominate the global stage.

What’s more, wars led to the formation of social strata and inequalities within the invading communities. The emergence of wealthy social classes and the subsequent socioeconomic stratification that occurred within the context of wars are the causes of this. Both of these components –patriarchy and inequality- give rise to a third circumstance known as “ego”. These three phenomena, according to Taylor, have precipitated the psychological decline of societies. Since these three factors, violence has become an indispensable component of the humankind. The desire of modernity and capitalism to control nature has sped up this process even further. This individualistic paradigm, in Taylor’s words, has exacerbated the “ego explosion” and desire for power.

Nonetheless, in the current era, where digitalization and industry 4.0 have gained strength, it has created a trans-societal or global elite class by widening the social stratification inequalities between the ruled and the ruled. A tiny group that controls technology governs 90 percent of the world in an opaque manner, as economist Daron Acemoglu frequently asserts. This class, which controls the energy, food, medicine, information technology, and weaponry industries, desires an even larger portion of global capital and it further exacerbates societies’ dependence on itself. These influential elites we have discussed establish influential interest groups in various states, international organisations, and non-governmental entities. They incite regional instability and instigate ethnic tensions when the flow of capitalist capital is impeded. Historical analysis reveals that their conflicts often escalate into global wars. Wars, in this context, are significant devices in advancing technology, causing shifts in geopolitical dynamics, and reducing excessive accumulation of capital. Given that a significant portion of the technology we believe was created for our everyday lives was, in fact, developed by armies for warfare, we perceive that war is an essential part of our lives.

Wars are, in this context, a crucial instrument for elites to exert control over the global populace and increase their ownership of global capital. Ideologies are crucial instruments utilised to cognitively divide societies in this context. Policies that are implemented to expedite these cognitive division processes include promoting consumption, utilising well-known figures as exemplars for societies, and elevating extremely wealthy individuals to the status of social heroes. Cognitive blindness is illustrated by the desire for everyone to own a jet without realising the extent of the harm we are causing to the environment and by the idealisation of fur and leather dresses without realising that they will destroy habitats. Simultaneously, this consumption frenzy is a fact that exacerbates global inequality and condemns people in some geographies to death.

To conceal this cognitive blindness, academia and the media support the glorification of identity and peace politics, which serve as concealment. Since the late 1980s, the lack of depiction of the socioeconomic dynamics underlying ethnic conflicts and wars in popular culture and science while spreading romantic messages of peace demonstrates the power of these elites in the media and scientific community. The finest illustration of this is the 1985 aid campaign based in the United States for Africans starving to death. It is the song “We are the World” performed by pop icons of the era like Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, and Michael Jackson. When we were children, the Western Bloc, which was headed by the United States, in the eyes of us, appeared to be a group of good people assisting the Africans. It was inconceivable to us that food that was not eaten and thrown away in the West could avert hunger if transported to Africa, and that the global elite considered this hunger a political priority. The aforementioned political blindness persists among the majority of the global populace. The current moment demands that all individuals awaken, develop self-awareness regarding their interior selves, and make peace with Gaia. We should bear in mind that we are parts of God and not those who wield authority over the natural world; rather, we should strive to coexist harmoniously with the planet and its inhabitants, maintaining inner peace with ourselves while living for the global community. Numerous spiritual movements, including Sufism, Kabbalah, and all Hebrew religions, have repeatedly reminded us of this fact throughout history; however, we have become too preoccupied with material possessions. It’s time to wake up. Upon reversing the first statistic, what can be said regarding the 286 years of peace that have passed in the past 3400 years? Simply put, it is a period during which preparations are made for war.

Prof. Dr. Rasim Özgür Dönmez

I am a lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu. My area of expertise is conflict dynamics, social mobilisation, and political violence. Some of my scholarly works are: “Neoliberalism and Global Insecurities: Thinking Resilience/Resistance in Turkey”, “Waves of Social Movement Mobilizations in the 21^st Century: Challenges to the Neo-Liberal World Order and Democracy (with N. Konak, E. Castaneda, L. R. D. Cepeda, and G. B. Goularas)”, “Gendered Identities: Criticizing Patriarchy in Turkey (with F. A. Özmen, C. A. Akman, V. Irtis, G. B. Goularas)”, “Nation-Building and Turkish Modernization: Islam, Islamism, and Nationalism in Turkey (with A. Yaman)” and “Societal Peace and Ideal Citizenship for Turkey (with P. Enneli, C. A. Akman, E. Aktoprak and M. Arakon)”.