Is War Inevitable?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From ancient battles to modern proxy wars, conflicts have been a constant in human history. But does that mean we are destined to continue treating it as an option? Those saying war is inevitable argue that our global system is anarchic and no overarching authority exists to stop war, so states prioritize survival and power. But others argue that conflict is not the only form of dispute resolution; trade, diplomacy, international law, mediation, and peace treaties can avert war. Now we debate: Is War Inevitable? Arguing Yes: Dylan Motin, Visiting Scholar at the Seoul National University Asia Center Arguing No: Gabrielle Rifkind, Conflict Mediator; Director of Oxford Process Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Visit OpentoDebate.org to watch more insightful debates. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on our curated weekly debates, dynamic live events, and educational initiatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.6	States do not decide war. Individuals, humans decide war. War is not inevitable.
0:39.1	I'm not a pacifist, but history shows war fails.
0:44.0	We only need to look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, so-called War on Terror.
0:49.6	None of these wars bring peace.
0:52.2	Most great powers we know today have been built on wars. So, of course, war does pay.
0:58.6	This is open to debate. I'm John Donvan. Hi, everybody. Our topic today for debate is war. Is there
1:04.9	ever a time when there is not one going on somewhere? Right now, just to name the most ferocious,
1:09.8	there is Ukraine, there is Gaza,
1:12.1	there is Sudan. And you go back in time, way back, and how many of the great literary works
1:18.0	of antiquity are actually about war or warriors, the Iliad, Beowulf, so many more. And it raises
1:24.2	the question of why? Why is there so much war? Is it just baked into how we tend to
1:30.2	arrange ourselves as humans into tribes and nowadays into states? Or is there? And has there always been
1:36.5	a route to avoiding war? In this episode, we're going to look at the global system of power
1:41.7	and states as they exist today. And we're asking
1:44.8	this question with powerful arguments on both sides. Is war inevitable? Let's meet our debaters.
1:51.2	Argument the answer to that question is yes, that war is inevitable. I want to welcome Dylan
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