War Theory, Thursday, 4th Period
Admiral Honor Harrington was seated on the corner of the desk at the front of the room, feet brushing the floor. She wore her casual attire today -- fitted tee shirt and cargo pants -- with a reinforced rainjacket draped over the chair behind her. Without the rainjacket, Nimitz was resigned to sprawling out across the desk beside her, watching with interest as the students filter into the classroom.
On the table to the right, the usual coffee, hot chocolate, water, and tea had been set up just beyond the sign-in sheet for the day. "No need to be shy," Honor said with a wry smile. She brushed the tip of her nose with a hooked index finger. "Sign-in, feel free to grab a cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or water, and take a seat. We'll get started in just a few moments."
After a few moments, Honor glanced toward the clock -- just as the minute hand ticked over from 10:59. "All right then, let's be about it." She slid off the corner of the desk, pulling herself to her full six-foot-two-inch height. "Good morning and welcome to 'War Theory.' I'm Professor Harrington, and together we'll be discussing some controversial topics this term. Varied opinions will be welcome in this class. I expect you to act with responsibility and consideration for your fellow students. Until you show me otherwise, I will treat you as the young adults you are. Failure to act accordingly will result in detention or other punishments I, or the administration, deem appropriate.
"That being said, I don't wish to frighten anyone away. Understanding the history of what is called the 'Western tradition' is important to understand where we are now, and how we derive our interpretations of modern warfare. It can also be a very interesting topic of conversation. Before we get into the heavy topic of warfare, however, let's take a few minutes to get to know one another."
Her expression shifted, as did Nimitz behind her, and she smiled. "Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves." She nodded to the first student to her right, indicating they should start.
Once the introductions were complete, Honor moved to the marker board and began writing. "Now that we're moderately acquainted, we'll get down to business. What would you" -- and here she was addressing the whole class -- "consider the causes of war?" She wrote down each one as clearly and neatly as she could.
She stepped back and reviewed the list. At length, she nodded. "Not bad. Now, do you see any similarities? Can you group any of these together? Form categories?" She continued in the capacity of class secretary, writing down any appropriate comments on the board.
"Okay, I think we're headed in the right direction." Honor capped the marker. Turning back to the students, she continued. "Historically, the idea of 'just war' theory is an old concept. One of the first dialogues was opened by Aristotle himself, breaking the causes of war down into four categories: material, efficient, formal, and final. If you look at war as a sculpture, an analogy might look like this --"
Removing the cap again, she wrote the following on the board:
marble = material cause
sculptor = efficient cause
artistic vision = formal cause
money or fame = final cause
"The marble becomes the material cause because it -- like many conditions of war -- precedes the sculpture, is always present, but doesn't always end up as a sculpture. Thus, a material cause always exists, but doesn't always spawn a war. For the moment, we're going to discuss three of the major (also known as permissive) causes: human nature, 'troublemakers,' and nationalism.
"Anyone who has had a social science class should understand some of the basic theories about human nature, pessimistic and optomistic. According to previous authors, humans can be classified as animals and, like other animals, posess instincts. These instincts are considered inherited behavior patterns. An example might be that 'one human being when challenged by another will react with anger and stand to fight.' The biggest problem with this, then isn't that humans fight, it's that they fight to the death. Agree with it or not -- I'm not sure that I do -- but the fact that we have the ability to kill one another does have to be considered a cause of war."
Honor moved and picked up Nimitz, stroking the cream-and-grey fur atop his head as he curled up in her arms. "Next in the rogues gallery, we have the 'troublemakers.' Troublemakers fall into that mysterious category of 'efficient cause' -- the enablers, if you will. The argument can be made, for example, that the Vietnam War was enabled by the rise of the Communist Party in Vietnam. The problem with this theory is that, for every enabler that is removed from the system, another one arises; and even the individual enablers -- Hitler, Stalin, bin Laden -- have to gain followers to pose a threat.
"Third on our list is the big one -- nationalism. In order to look at this, we need to examine the definition of a nation. In common parlance, a nation is usually defined as a group of people who have things in common such as language, customs, and tradition. One early theorist, Guiseppe Mazzini, theorized that if 'each nation had its own state, free from control by foreigners, there would be peace.' But this raises a lot of other questions -- mainly, where does identification of nationalities end? Additionally, it provides identification for groups to feel wronged of that they have grievances. This isn't necessarily bad, but again, how far can it be permitted to go?"(1)
Pausing, she watched as Nimitz crawled once again out of her arms, moving back onto the desk. With one true-hand, he picked up and began munching on a small stalk of celery Honor had left for him. Honor then leaned back against the desk, folding her arms across her chest. "So, as you can see, there are a lot of questions. I'm not sure I have all the answers. It's your responsibility to find those for yourself. I hope that this class will provide a backdrop for that." Her eyes darted to the clock. "And, now that I'm sure I've bored you to tears, you're dismissed. I'll be available for a few minutes after class if you have any questions."
[Okay, a little long winded. I promise they won't all be like this. Please wait for the OCD! OCD up!]
[(1) Info cribbed from War, Peace, and International Politics, 8th Edition, by David W. Ziegler, Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.]
On the table to the right, the usual coffee, hot chocolate, water, and tea had been set up just beyond the sign-in sheet for the day. "No need to be shy," Honor said with a wry smile. She brushed the tip of her nose with a hooked index finger. "Sign-in, feel free to grab a cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or water, and take a seat. We'll get started in just a few moments."
After a few moments, Honor glanced toward the clock -- just as the minute hand ticked over from 10:59. "All right then, let's be about it." She slid off the corner of the desk, pulling herself to her full six-foot-two-inch height. "Good morning and welcome to 'War Theory.' I'm Professor Harrington, and together we'll be discussing some controversial topics this term. Varied opinions will be welcome in this class. I expect you to act with responsibility and consideration for your fellow students. Until you show me otherwise, I will treat you as the young adults you are. Failure to act accordingly will result in detention or other punishments I, or the administration, deem appropriate.
"That being said, I don't wish to frighten anyone away. Understanding the history of what is called the 'Western tradition' is important to understand where we are now, and how we derive our interpretations of modern warfare. It can also be a very interesting topic of conversation. Before we get into the heavy topic of warfare, however, let's take a few minutes to get to know one another."
Her expression shifted, as did Nimitz behind her, and she smiled. "Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves." She nodded to the first student to her right, indicating they should start.
Once the introductions were complete, Honor moved to the marker board and began writing. "Now that we're moderately acquainted, we'll get down to business. What would you" -- and here she was addressing the whole class -- "consider the causes of war?" She wrote down each one as clearly and neatly as she could.
She stepped back and reviewed the list. At length, she nodded. "Not bad. Now, do you see any similarities? Can you group any of these together? Form categories?" She continued in the capacity of class secretary, writing down any appropriate comments on the board.
"Okay, I think we're headed in the right direction." Honor capped the marker. Turning back to the students, she continued. "Historically, the idea of 'just war' theory is an old concept. One of the first dialogues was opened by Aristotle himself, breaking the causes of war down into four categories: material, efficient, formal, and final. If you look at war as a sculpture, an analogy might look like this --"
Removing the cap again, she wrote the following on the board:
marble = material cause
sculptor = efficient cause
artistic vision = formal cause
money or fame = final cause
"The marble becomes the material cause because it -- like many conditions of war -- precedes the sculpture, is always present, but doesn't always end up as a sculpture. Thus, a material cause always exists, but doesn't always spawn a war. For the moment, we're going to discuss three of the major (also known as permissive) causes: human nature, 'troublemakers,' and nationalism.
"Anyone who has had a social science class should understand some of the basic theories about human nature, pessimistic and optomistic. According to previous authors, humans can be classified as animals and, like other animals, posess instincts. These instincts are considered inherited behavior patterns. An example might be that 'one human being when challenged by another will react with anger and stand to fight.' The biggest problem with this, then isn't that humans fight, it's that they fight to the death. Agree with it or not -- I'm not sure that I do -- but the fact that we have the ability to kill one another does have to be considered a cause of war."
Honor moved and picked up Nimitz, stroking the cream-and-grey fur atop his head as he curled up in her arms. "Next in the rogues gallery, we have the 'troublemakers.' Troublemakers fall into that mysterious category of 'efficient cause' -- the enablers, if you will. The argument can be made, for example, that the Vietnam War was enabled by the rise of the Communist Party in Vietnam. The problem with this theory is that, for every enabler that is removed from the system, another one arises; and even the individual enablers -- Hitler, Stalin, bin Laden -- have to gain followers to pose a threat.
"Third on our list is the big one -- nationalism. In order to look at this, we need to examine the definition of a nation. In common parlance, a nation is usually defined as a group of people who have things in common such as language, customs, and tradition. One early theorist, Guiseppe Mazzini, theorized that if 'each nation had its own state, free from control by foreigners, there would be peace.' But this raises a lot of other questions -- mainly, where does identification of nationalities end? Additionally, it provides identification for groups to feel wronged of that they have grievances. This isn't necessarily bad, but again, how far can it be permitted to go?"(1)
Pausing, she watched as Nimitz crawled once again out of her arms, moving back onto the desk. With one true-hand, he picked up and began munching on a small stalk of celery Honor had left for him. Honor then leaned back against the desk, folding her arms across her chest. "So, as you can see, there are a lot of questions. I'm not sure I have all the answers. It's your responsibility to find those for yourself. I hope that this class will provide a backdrop for that." Her eyes darted to the clock. "And, now that I'm sure I've bored you to tears, you're dismissed. I'll be available for a few minutes after class if you have any questions."
[Okay, a little long winded. I promise they won't all be like this. Please wait for the OCD! OCD up!]
[(1) Info cribbed from War, Peace, and International Politics, 8th Edition, by David W. Ziegler, Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.]