CRITICAL: MARXIST & ANARCHIST THEORY
While realist theory holds the accumulation of power to be at the heart of conflict, Marxist tradition applies this principle in the economic domain; it regards capitalist-dependent economies and desire for fiscal advantage as providing the driving force behind global conflict. Lenin describes a race for resources as creating conditions for future warfare “The more capitalism is developed, the more strongly the shortage of raw materials is felt, the more intense the competition and the hunt for sources of raw materials throughout the whole world, the more desperate the struggle for the acquisition of colonies” (Lenin, 1999 [1917], p. 29).
The colonial expansion undertaken by many European countries during the second half of the last millenium brought in new resource-rich lands to harness by the controlling nations. The potential benefits that exploitation of these new territories would create would lead to conflict between …show more content…
251) contends, is based on a premis that a peaceful society can only be achieved through socialism, as communist societies maintain that they are often opposed to war, even though the creation of communist states has often been as a result of violent bloodshed. Malešević (2012) refers to Marx view of capitalism as a ‘coercive system’ which would need a bloody uprising by the masses in order to rectify the faults within, before indicating Weber’s identification of the symbiotic relationship that exists between “political power [and] coercive action” (2012, p. 241). Therefore the concept of socialism creating a peaceful society is flawed, as Marxist theory maintains that it necessitates being founded in blood from the outset. By reference to almost any communist-based state, a comparison could be drawn to a ‘coercive system’ that equates or perhaps surpasses that of many capitalist
While realist theory holds the accumulation of power to be at the heart of conflict, Marxist tradition applies this principle in the economic domain; it regards capitalist-dependent economies and desire for fiscal advantage as providing the driving force behind global conflict. Lenin describes a race for resources as creating conditions for future warfare “The more capitalism is developed, the more strongly the shortage of raw materials is felt, the more intense the competition and the hunt for sources of raw materials throughout the whole world, the more desperate the struggle for the acquisition of colonies” (Lenin, 1999 [1917], p. 29).
The colonial expansion undertaken by many European countries during the second half of the last millenium brought in new resource-rich lands to harness by the controlling nations. The potential benefits that exploitation of these new territories would create would lead to conflict between …show more content…
251) contends, is based on a premis that a peaceful society can only be achieved through socialism, as communist societies maintain that they are often opposed to war, even though the creation of communist states has often been as a result of violent bloodshed. Malešević (2012) refers to Marx view of capitalism as a ‘coercive system’ which would need a bloody uprising by the masses in order to rectify the faults within, before indicating Weber’s identification of the symbiotic relationship that exists between “political power [and] coercive action” (2012, p. 241). Therefore the concept of socialism creating a peaceful society is flawed, as Marxist theory maintains that it necessitates being founded in blood from the outset. By reference to almost any communist-based state, a comparison could be drawn to a ‘coercive system’ that equates or perhaps surpasses that of many capitalist