The End of War

In a recent talk to a conference on better using mobile health technology, Ted Turner, the founder of CNN among other achievements, said that the increasing interconnectedness of the world makes war increasingly undesirable. He pointed out that the media now makes it more difficult for nations to conduct military campaigns. He then cites the example of the Israeli campaign against Hezbollah. “It looked too ugly on television,” he commented. “War is so destructive and so ugly,” he said, “we can’t afford war.”
We tend to talk about peace and much less about what would bring it about, the end of war. It is something that may sound idealistic but when it is thought about through Ted Turner’s eyes, in terms of its destruction, its images, its costs, its danger, its increasing ugliness, it makes us think that not only is he making a point we can’t ignore, he is also making one for something that has to be doable.