A glance at the history of mankind, repeatedly ravaged by war and its consequences, might suggest conflict to be both ubiquitous and perpetual. The costs incurred, disruption caused and horrors endured have led man throughout time to theorise on the causes of war. What makes rational people or nations go to war with one another is, in each particular case, inevitably an amalgam of different reasons. However, many have argued over the centuries that underlying the specific reasons in any one case, is the nature of the human condition ; that man's psyche is at base level bellic, self-interes…
