War, Terrorism, and the Balance of Power

Ch. 14

The Problem in Sociological Perspective

• Arms race• Cold war• Why is war common?– An instinct to fight

• The sociological answer: societies channel aggression– Sociologists and anthropologists do not look within

people.– Conflicts always arise among people living nearby.– What is significant are the norms that groups

establish to deal with those conflicts.

• War is not universal–Although hostilities, aggression, and

even murder characterize all human groups, war does not–War is just one option, but not all

societies offer this option

Why Do Some Groups Choose War?

• War– An organized form of aggression that involves armed

conflict between politically distinct groups and is often part of national policy

• Three essential conditions of war– Cultural tradition for war– An antagonistic situation in which states confront

incompatible objectives– Nations move from thinking about war to actually

engaging in it.

• Seven “sparks” that set off war– Get revenge– Dictate one’s will– Protect or enhance prestige– Unite rival groups– Protect or exalt the nation’s leaders– Satisfy the national aspirations of ethnic groups– Convert others to different religious and

ideological beliefs

The Scope of the Problem

• War in the history of the West– U.S. is one of the most aggressive nations in

the world• Our growing capacity to kill– Recognize how industrialization has

increased our capacity to kill• The slaughter continues• War is a common element in history

Symbolic Interactionism• Perceptions and the arms race

– United States and Soviet Union spent enormous amounts of money developing weaponry.

– Without valid data each had to guess what the other intended.• Guessing game led to an arms race

– Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) buildup• U.S. officials perceived Soviet plans a certain way

– Entire nuclear arms race based on symbolic interpretations of what each nation thought the other would do ―symbols are so powerful that they can take on a life of their own

• Perceptions and the “first strike”– Like to think that we always act on facts alone– Really act on our perceptions of “facts,” or how we think things “are”– Scary to think that our lives—and those of the world—depend on

correct interpretation of one another’s signals

Functionalism• The functions of war– Extension of territory– Social integration– Social change

• War stimulates developments in surgical techniques• Long-distance surgery

– Economic gain– Other functions

• Ideological• Vengeance or punishment• Military security• Increase credibility

• Multiple functions– No war serves a single function– Functions can change

• Functions for the victors• Functions for the losers

– War is highly dysfunctional for losers– Losers can also benefit from war

• Japan• Functions for individuals

– Soldiers and leaders• Dysfunctions of war

– Defeat is war’s most well-known dysfunction– Destruction of cities– Death of troops and citizens– Fatherless or motherless children– Decline in education– Bitterness that can span generations– Victor can grow dependent on the exploitation of subjugated peoples

Conflict Theory• Three reasons that nations go to war– Resources

• Conflict theorists claim that central force in human history is struggle for control over society’s resources• Bourgeoisie

– Uses resources to keep itself in power and exploit less powerful

• Proletariat– The poor, the workers

– Expansion of markets– A military machine

The Military Machine Today• Conflict theorists stress today’s military machine

has increased the threat of war.• The military machine, the power elite, and the

globalization of capitalism– Military has become a permanent institution.– Power elite—top leaders of the military, business, and

politics– Today’s business leaders support a powerful military.• World of global capitalism

• Protect worldwide investments

• National Security or Homeland Security– Protection of the nation• Major goals of homeland security

– U.S. Military machine is used to advance capitalism around the globe

– “War is no longer an interruption of peace; in our time, peace itself has become an uneasy interlude between wars.”

Research Findings• What reduces war?– Type of religion does not reduce warfare– Type of government does not reduce warfare– Prosperity does not reduce warfare– Shared religion does not reduce warfare between

nations– Common language does not reduce warfare– Education does not reduce warfare– Being “neighbors” does not reduce warfare– Nobel Peace Prize is typically awarded to a citizen

living in a war-torn nation

The Costs of War• Takes huge toll on humanity• Material costs: money• Lost alternative purchases

– For price of one aircraft carrier, could build 12,000 high schools– For price of one naval weapons plant, could build twenty-six 160-

bed hospitals– For price of one jet bomber, could provide school lunches for 1

million children a year– For price of one new prototype bomber, could pay the annual

salaries of 250,000 teachers– What choice is there?

• Human costs: dehumanization– Characteristics of dehumanization

• Increased emotional distance from others• An emphasis on following procedures• Diminished personal responsibility

– Consciences become so numbed that people can dissociate killing—even torture—from their “normal self”

• Dehumanization in prolonged conflicts– Long wars come to be viewed as a struggle between good and evil– War exalts treachery, brutality, and killing– Dehumanization by the Nazis and Japanese– Dehumanization by the U.S. Military

• Collateral damage: refers to the unintentional murder of civilians during combat operations

– When dehumanization fails• If a soldier was unable to disassociate his military behavior from his

personal identity, he would live a guilt-ridden existence.

• Human costs: deaths– War’s greatest cost: lives lost– Total war

• Instituted by Napoleon• “No-holds-barred” warfare

• Human costs: combat fatigue and PTSD– Combat stress reaction or shell shock

• Term used to describe the emotional and physical reaction a soldier faces immediately after combat

– Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)• Describes the long-term emotional distress a soldier experiences after

combat

The Military-Industrial Complex• The military as an economic force– Those that specialize in armaments have become a

powerful force in the U.S. Economy.– The military–industrial complex• Military and defense industries have become a threat to

Congress.• Pentagon capitalism: interlocking relationship between

Pentagon armaments and U.S. businesses

• The growing capacity to inflict death– Profit and employment make it easy to forget that military

industries represent loss of human life.– The explosive energy of nuclear weapons is measured in

megatons.• One megaton equals 1 million tons of TNT

• A glimmer of hope– Disarmament

• Act of reducing arms/weapons

• A growing danger– Availability of nuclear weapons in the hands of a single individual

or a small group– Nuclear proliferation increases likelihood of nuclear weapons use

The Possibility of Accidental War

• Computer failure– Threat of nuclear attack comes not only from dictators and terrorists– Possibility missiles will be unleashed accidentally

• Human error– Obliteration of humanity– October 28, 1962

• Nuclear accidents– Unintended detonation of a nuclear weapon could signal the end of human

civilization.• Nuclear sabotage

– U.S. Government has assured us and the world that a missile cannot be launched without proper authorization.

• The significance of symbolic interaction– To gain an understanding of an event’s meaning, all symbols must be

interpreted.

Biological and Chemical Warfare

• Irony of warfare is that killing with bullets or bombs is considered normal, while killing with gas is deemed abnormal.

• Use of biological and chemical agents– Agent orange

• The production of these agents– Binary chemical weapons• Shells or bombs in which two benign chemicals are

kept in separate chambers• When weapon detonated, the chemicals mix,

releasing a lethal agent

• The treaty with a huge flaw– United States, Russia, and other nations have

signed a chemical weapons convention.– The flaw? Biological weapons are not covered by

this treaty• Continued research and production– Although major nations have begun to scale back

on development of biological weapons, the possibility that terrorists will get some of these weapons still remains.

Terrorism

• 20 years ago, terrorism was only a theoretical topic.

• Political terrorism– Involves the use of threats of war—

intimidation, coercion, and violence—to achieve political objectives

• Revolutionary terrorism– First type: enemies of the state use terrorism in an

attempt to overthrow the government• Causes of revolutionary terrorism– Existence of a segregated, ethnic, cultural, or

religious minority– Perceptions of being deprived or oppressed– Higher-than-average unemployment or inflation– External encouragement– A historical “them”– Frustrated elites who provide leadership and justify

ideological violence

• Goals of revolutionary terrorism– Publicize the group and its grievances– Demonstrate the government’s vulnerability– Force political and social change– Political theater

• Terrorists often want to make public their “cause”• The Oklahoma City bombing• September 11• A sense of morality– Using neutralization techniques, terrorists appeal to

a higher morality in justifying their actions.– Japanese subways―sarin

• Repressive terrorism– Waged by a government against its own citizens– The Khmer Rouge– Russia

• State-sponsored terrorism– A government finances, trains, and arms terrorists

• Criminal terrorism– Criminals use terrorism to attain their objectives– Often affiliated with political terrorism– Narcoterrorism• Criminal terrorism that revolves around drugs

• Nuclear and biological terrorism– Nuclear terrorism• 212 tons of plutonium currently missing from U.S.

nuclear facilities• Safeguards remain inadequate• Because damage from nuclear attack would be

unimaginably destructive, nuclear terrorists could hold major governments, including the U.S., captive

– Biological terrorism• Greater threat• Components for anthrax, smallpox, and plague

cheaper to obtain than nuclear weapons

Social Policy

• Political terrorism– The overarching principle in social policy:• “Don’t give in to their demands, for this

encourages further terrorism.”• Giving in to terrorists’ demands only

escalates terrorism

• Ten basic policies– Promise anything during negotiations– Make no distinction between terrorists and their state sponsors– Use economic and political sanctions– Treat terrorists as war criminals– Discourage media coverage– Establish international extradition and prosecution agreements– Develop an international organization to combat terrorism– Offer large rewards– Cut the funding of terrorist organizations– Infiltrate terrorist organizations

• Application of social policies– Consistently viewing others as potential terrorists is controversial– Targeted killings

• Responsible or suspected terrorists placed on “hit list” and marked for assassination

Nuclear Warfare and the Elusive Path to Peace

• Mutual deterrence– Using threats and the fear of mutual

destruction to prevent the other from striking first

– Mutual assured destruction (MAD)• Resulting balance of power• A strange path to peace: a MAD one

• The Balance of power– G-8: Association of the world’s eight most powerful nations– Sometimes called the New World Order– NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

• Three potential policies– Disarmament

• Bilateral disarmament• Unilateral disarmament

– Developing interlocking networks of mutual interest• Global economy

– International law• International criminal court

• Survival as a mutual benefit– Desire for self-preservation that will prevent

the nuclear annihilation of humanity• Best social policies would remove weapons of

mass destruction.• Foresee no such policy eliminating these

weapons, whether nuclear, biological, or chemical

The Future of the Problem• Arms sales and war• Political terrorism– Revolutionary terrorism– Repressive terrorism– State-sponsored terrorism• Russia