Why Go To War?

War

Photo illustration by Mark Riechers

Listen nowDownload file
Embed player
Original Air Date: 
January 11, 2020

The escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran has a lot of people on edge, worried that we're on the verge of yet another war. So what if we step back and ask a bigger question: why do we go to war? What is the perennial attraction of armed conflict? And what does it take for peace activists to face down tyrants and military leaders?

Airmen pose with an MQ-9 Reaper at Creech Air Force Base.
Articles

Was Qassem Soleimani 'assassinated'? 'Killed'? The legal differences are complicated, says Brookings Institution fellow Scott Anderson.

Length: 
10:04
Samantha Power
Audio

Samantha Power was President Obama's ambassador to the UN, taking part in life-and-death decisions, including whether to launch military strikes. She talks about her two biggest foreign policy challenges — whether to intervene in Libya and Syria.

Length: 
13:44
A war plane flies.
Audio

The title of political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg's book says it all, “The Worth of War.” In it, he argues that war has greatly benefited civilization.

Length: 
6:27
"From War is Beautiful" by David Shields, published by powerHouse Books.
Photo Gallery

David Shields says the New York Times is complicit in romanticizing war through imagery.

Mark Art, Not War
Audio

Is war inevitable? Leymah Gbowee loudly and strongly says no. And she’s got proof.

Length: 
11:40
Extras

Show Details 📻
Last modified: 
October 20, 2020