Definition of a Violent Conflict
A violent conflict involves at least two parties using physical force to resolve competing claims or interests. Violent conflicts may occur among individuals or groups not affiliated with a government, but the term is most commonly applied as a synonym for war. At whatever level it occurs, a violent conflict usually involves more than one confrontation.
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Origins
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Several schools of thought dominate debates about the origins of violent conflict. One theory involves human nature. For example, in Jewish and Christian traditions, human disobedience against God led to an imperfect world in which human nature proves inherently violent. Some evolutionary biologists, by contrast, argue that competition for resources among human predecessors left humans prone to violence. Another school of thought involves "relative deprivation." Here, people are prone to violent conflict if they feel that they are not receiving what they deserve relative to other individuals or groups. Social scientists such as Margaret Mead have argued that violent conflict was an invention, like language, and can be abandoned.
Features
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Violent conflicts differ in intensity but share some common characteristics. According to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, non-violent conflicts, sometimes called rivalries, may persist for years as the parties involved state their disagreements and threaten one another. Such conflicts often become violent when at least one side applies force to resolve a crisis, after which the violence may range from sporadic to highly concentrated.
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Types
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Researchers have identified several violent conflict types. Wars are the most well-known and are distinguished by their high level of organization and sustained violence. World War II remains the largest violent conflict in history, but political scientists at the Correlates of War project categorize as a war any conflict with 1,000 or more battle deaths. Asymmetrical struggles such as insurgencies and terror campaigns also are categories as violent conflicts. Smaller-scale conflicts such as blood feuds and gang wars can be considered violent conflicts. In some cases these disputes are driven by the same economic and territorial considerations as wars. Genocides, while violent, are less clearly conflicts given the one-sided concentration of power.
Misconceptions
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Belligerents often cite intangible motivations, such as justice or honor, to justify a violent conflict. Therefore, violent conflicts tend to erupt when passions run high. Nevertheless, few sustained conflicts become violent without some economic, political or other material motivation at stake.
Prevention/Resolution
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Some activists have targeted violent conflict as outdated and avoidable. Efforts at ending international conflict, for example, include the League of Nations and the United Nations. Many peace researchers and policy makers argue that violent conflicts can be avoided if parties on both sides of a conflict can air their grievances and seek mediation. Other theories hold that economic integration and growth will prevent international and domestic conflict. Less optimistic observers point out that violent conflicts persist because the best that humans can achieve is a reduction, not an elimination, of violent conflict.
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References
- Photo Credit american war cemetery image by Cliff Lloyd from Fotolia.com
