Like so many people, I wonder what we gain from wars? Why do we seek the death of the adversary as a formula to increase and consolidate our power? Every day, I watch the international news with an ever-optimistic curiosity, looking for a glimmer of hope for the many wars that destroy us as humanity and frustrate our pacifist conscience. Without aspirations to simplistic papacy or populist anger, I remain convinced that some of the war conflicts that devastate the planet will lead to the cessation of hostilities, that the civilian population, at least, will cease to suffer and that boys and girls will not find death… in your nursery or playground. I think that I am not alone or the only one to be harassed by the desire for a bearable peace for Ukraine, Gaza, Mali, Congo, Lebanon, Somalia, Israel, Yemen, Syria…
I know that conflict is inherent to the coexistence of human beings, due to their animal condition, but war – as organized and professionalized violence – is a phenomenon linked to their social organization, hierarchical and controlled by the masculine gender. In short, war has been and still is a man’s business.
