Jon

I would hope that it is something that we will outgrow, but in the short term I think it is an inevitable product of human nature. I think the driving forces are at the individual level and start with Greed and the sociopathic impulse to take from others or monopolize resources; and what I call the impulse towards Fascism - when a person feels that they are not only right but that everyone else should do and believe their way. There are only a certain number of possible reactions to people who behave like that - join, knuckle under, or resist. Some percentage of people will do some of each. This behavior at the individual level is extrapolated at the level of politics, the state, or non-state groups. Conflict becomes inevitable. In some portion of the cases it will escalate. I forgot who said it but war is the absence of law. Since I do not expect human nature to change radically very soon, I think the only hope is rule of law and justice at an international level. But even this is undermined. I wish I was more optimistic.