War and American Mennonites

Ideas change over time. This is the basis of an international relations theory called constructivism , one of the three major theories of how countries relate to each other. Here's an example: The United States and the United Kingdom were at war in the 1770s. In the 1790s, both countries were suspicious of each others' military activities. A military buildup in the United Kingdom could be seen as a threat to the United States. There was still bad blood between the two countries. War might have seemed possible. Then, ideas changed. By the 2020s, the United States and the United Kingdom are not at all suspicious of each others' military activities. A military buildup in the United States poses no thread to the United Kingdom; the thought of the US and the UK at war with each other seems absurd. In the 1790s this was not the case. The idea of war between the two countries seemed possible in the 1790s. It seems impossible in the 2020s. The US and UK regularly...

Our class began with a quote. “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” This quote is attributed to Leon Trotsky, a Ukrainian theorist. Richard Betts' class at Columbia didn't include any readings of Trotsky beyond this one simple quote. This quote makes sense and does seem to ring true. Millions of Ukrainians are coming face-to-face with war and are fleeing to safety because they want nothing to do with it. Thousands of Ukrainian men who previously were accountants, bakers, mechanics etc. are setting aside their comfortable lives and responding to a war that's coming closer and closer. On the other side, thousands of conscripted Russian teenagers are being forced into combat instead of enjoying their teenage lives. The vast majority of people who encounter war do not welcome its encroachment into their lives. This is true for Mennonites as well. We don't want to go to war. Instead we feel a calling to spread God's peace. We w...

  Unfortunately, theories are the best tools we have when discussing war and peace. The study of war and peace is a social science, not a natural science. There are no laws. Just probabilities and patterns. The natural sciences have laws. Think of scientific laws as recipes; if you pour a cup of baking soda into a cup of vinegar you will witness a violent reaction. Anyone can replicate this reaction with the same amount of baking soda and the same amount of vinegar. If you follow the recipe you will see the reaction. It's a law. The social sciences do not have these recipe-like laws. Just probabilities and patterns. There is no recipe for war or peace. There is no law that if you mix economic troubles, social division, an autocratic regime, and a mountainous terrain you will witness a violent reaction. The best we can do is observe conflicts and notice characteristics of the societies that experience them. When studying multiple conflicts we might notice that a certain ...

  Mennonites in the USA are blessed to live in peace. We believe that God and Jesus have provided us with a way of peace, and that we should live in this peace and offer it to others. We're peace people through-and-through; the way we read the Bible calls us to be peaceful, we treat each other and our neighbors peacefully, and our charitable work promotes and supports peace. Our peaceful practices rest on hundreds of years of pro-peace theology. I am a member of one of the small Mennonite Churches scattered throughout New York. I've been a member for the past 15 years. About 8 years ago I had the opportunity to take an excellent class at Columbia University entitled War, Peace, and Strategy , taught by Professor Richard Betts. It was an overview of many of the theories of how and why warfare happens. I took this class so I could contribute to discussions among my Mennonite brothers and sisters in the event that we had to talk about war once again. Unfortunatel...