In my international relations class we have begun a unit on war. Most of what we study has been the causes of wars, as seen in history. What I have learned has been frightening and enlightening. It has been sad to see how much death has been caused primarily because of misunderstanding, greed, and pride. We learned about Vietnam, and how incorrect paradigms of the world led to escalation in the war (not to mention the people seeking political gain). World War I was partly caused by miscommunication and misunderstanding of other people's intentions and cultures. Today we talked about the Arab/Israeli conflict and the painful legacy of a centuries of ethnic conflict. I leave class thinking, "What a mess."

The take-home lesson I get from this is how vigilant people have to be to avoid falling into conflicts. Forgiveness is a must, calmness is a must. People need to wait to make judgments until all the facts are on the table, to think for themselves, to listen to the other side. Education can help bring this about. I think part of the point of global and transnational education is to encourage thinking about issues in ways that can avoid death and destruction. Obviously there are times when war is necessary, but that is seldom the case. Conflicts don't have to be solved by killing each other.