A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.
www.brucenixon.com
The causes of war and violence are multi-faceted. Amongst these are religious intolerance, attempts to
impose religions or political systems on other nations, or the ambitions of national leaders, some with flawed
personalities.
The roots of conflict lie in history. The insult of the Crusades had a deep effect on Islamic consciousness that
continues today. The creation of empires by European countries, to secure wealth and resources inflicted
injustices on peoples who ultimately rebelled. The creation of artificial nations, as the Colonial powers did in
Africa, sowed the seeds of today’s conflicts in countries like Nigeria and Kenya. A major factor in WW1 was
German aspiration for empire and markets to rival the British Empire. George Monbiot, examining the causes
of WW1, concluded that the British government lied to its people about a secret treaty and war might have
been averted if the British government had sought to broker reconciliation between France and Germany
over Morocco in 1911.
The major factors in bringing about WW2 were an unfair and humiliating settlement at Versailles after WW1
and the failure to take early action against growing Nazi militarism and breaches of the treaty that could have
been nipped in the bud. The invasion of Iraq clearly made no sense. But it could have predicted that Blair
would support Bush. That has been the pattern of British foreign policy since WW2 ended. Only once did
Britain depart from this when Harold Wilson stood up to President Kennedy, saying “no” to the Vietnam War.
Generally USA has not reciprocated. Europeans have been wiser.
European and USA political and military interventions cast long shadows. Oil and other commercial interests
are at the root of Western wars, political interference, the overthrow of democratically elected governments
and support for evil regimes in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa and Latin America. There is a
legacy of distrust and hostility. Iran’s hostility today is hardly surprising.
The betrayal of the Arabs after World War 1 Today’s attitudes of the Arab world have their origins in the
interventions of Western powers over many decades, including the betrayal by the French and British of the
Arab League shortly after World War 1. During World War 1, TE Lawrence gained the support of the Arab
League, led by charismatic King Faisal, in defeating the Turkish Ottomans, rules Arabia at that time. TE
Lawrence saw the chance for an Arab Nation under the leadership of King Faisal and persuaded him this was
his opportunity to bring it about. But Britain and France betrayed this agreement. They divided up the area in
ways unfavourable to the Arabs under a secret deal that became known as the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement,
named after its two negotiators. To add insult to injury, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised support for
a Jewish national home in Palestine. Humiliating betrayal lies at the root of Arab hostility and distrust to this
day. The interventions of the West are deeply resented. Rory Stewart in his two BBC 2 television
programmes, The Legacy of TE Lawrence, concluded that foreign military interventions in the Middle East are
fundamentally unworkable. On both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Lawrence’s advice would have been:
Don’t do it!
Some wars are defensive, i.e. caused by attack or fear of attack. That is the case in the Israel/Palestine
conflict and Iran’s alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons. It may be argued that North Korea’s build up of
nuclear armaments is rooted in the in fear of being attacked again. Are North Korean attitudes affected by
memories of atrocities and aerial destruction committed by the Americans in South Korea (Task Force
Oregon), Laos, Cambodia as well as the use of Agent Orange, the massive aerial destruction of North Vietnam
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