War I And World War II - 1154 Words

War. The word alone conveys images of destruction and death. First, it is important to define war. War is armed conflict between governments in which 1,000 people are killed yearly. In the last century there have been hundreds of wars, but only World War I and World War II were fought on a global scale between major powers. The Cold War almost pitted the Soviet Union against the United States, but a war by definition never occurred. In his essay â€Å"War Has Almost Ceased to Exist: An Assessment,† John Mueller considers several factors for why there have been no wars between major international powers. Mueller, argues that since 1945, the main reason for the lack of war between major powers is due to a change in attitude. Yes, a change in†¦show more content†¦charter states that â€Å"all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against... any state†.2 Founded right after WWII the United Nations main goal was to pr event another World War. All of the aforementioned international organizations serve as a grand stage for dialogue between nations. Article 10 of the U.N. charter â€Å"authorizes the Assembly to discuss any questions or any matters of concern to the U.N.†.3 By allowing all members of the United Nations to voice concerns this helps to avoid conflict among major international actors. It is far more difficult to engage in a war between two superpowers when nations are divided between these powerful alliances. The most important body of the U.N., the security council has six permanent members. These six members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States main goal is to maintain international peace. By having these six powerful countries on the security council a major conflict is unlikely to take place. With alliances more present such as NATO countries are not as likely to engage a member country. This is because if a country attacked a member country then they would also face military engagement with all members of the alliance. Lastly, the U.N. security council has the power to put economic sanctions against a country. These sanctions can hinder economic growth of a