38 TIIE REPonT

9
"wasteful" form of "waste"), and in the usual coorditta- possibility
tion of stepped-up military activities (as in Viebram in of any nat
1965) with dangerouslyrising unemployment rates. it is histor
Although we do not imply that a substitute for war of weapo
"peace"
in the ""otto*y cannot be devised, no combination of as
techniques for controlling emplo;,ment, production, and the samet
consumptionhas yet been tested that can remotely com- tionhood.I
pare to it in effectiveness.It is, and has been, the essential elimination
economicstabilizer of modern societies. nation-sta
The wz
?olitical existence o
The political functions of war have been up to now has been r
even more critical to social stability. It is not sulprising, political st
nevertheless,that discussionsof economic conversionfor been able
peace tend to fall silent on the matter of political im- right to ru
plementation, and that disarmament scenarios,often so- the senseo
phisticated in their weighing of international political ment can
factors, tend to disregard the political functions of the revealsont
war system within individual societies. a regime tr
Thesefunctions are essentiallyorganizational.First of to its disso
"nation" re-
all, the existenceof a society as a political actionsto I
quires as part of its definition an attitude of relationship ments.The
"nations."
toward other This is what we usually call a of war is it
foreign policy. But a nation's foreign policy can have no this primar
substanceif it lacks the means of enforcing its attitude nized by I
toward other nations. It can do this in a credible manner acknowled
only if it implies the threat of maximum political organ- querors.
ization for this purpose-which is to say that it is organ- The bas
ized to some degree for war. War, then, as we have de- residesin il
ffned it to include all national activities that recognizethe to believet

EF- ,.rta-GFlrfitrlqF
 THE FUNCTTONS OF wAR 39

usual coordina- possibility of armed conflict, is itself the defining element

s in Viebram in of "try nation's existencevis-i-vis any other nation' Since
rment rates. it is historically axiomatic that the existenceof any form
rbstitute for war of weaponry insures its use, we have used the word
"peace't as virtually slmon)rmouswith disarmament' By
combination of "\ryar" is virtually s)monymouswith na-
production, and the same token,
n remotelY com- tionhood. The elimination of war implies the inevitable
een,the essential elimination of national sovereignty and the traditional
nation-state.
The war system not only has been essential to the
existenceof nations as independentpolitical entities,but
been uP to now has been equally indispensable to their stable internal
is not sulPrising, political structure. Without it, no government has ever
"legitimacy," or
ric conversion for Leen able to obtain acquiescencein its
r of political im- right to rule its society. The possibility of war provides
enados,often so- th" ,.rrr" of external necessitywithout which no govern-
national political ment can long remain in power. The historical record
functions of the reveals one instance after another where the failure of
a regime to maintain the credibility of a war threat led
rizational. First of to its dissolution,by the forces of private interest,of re-
itical
"nation" re- actions to social injustice, or of other disintegrative ele-
de of relationshiP ments. The organizationof a society for the possibility
we usually call a of war is its principal political stabilizer.It is ironic that
,olicy can have no this primary function of war has been generally recog-
orcing its attitude nized by historians only where it has been expressly
a credible manner acknowledged-in the pirate societiesof the great con-
rm political organ- querors.
ry that it is organ- The basic authority of a modern state over its peopl€
)n, as we have de- residesin its war powers' (There is, in fact, good reason
that recognize the to believethat codifiedlaw had its origins in the rules of

4
_/7iElllaEiE*t'r'|r
 TIIE REPORT
theseess
conduct establishedby military victors for dealing with
system v
the defeated enemy, which were later adapted to apply
would be
to all subject populations.? ) On a day-to-day basis, it
organ- Until it ir
is representedby the institution of police, armed "int-eyal must be
izatilns chatged expressly with dealing with "ex- than to p
enemies"in a military manner. Like the conventional
a society
ternal" military, the police are also substantially exempt
the stabi
from many civilian legal restraints on their social be-
havior. In somecountries,the artiffcial distinction between
Sociolog
police and other military forces does not exist' On the
Unde
long-term basis, a government'semergencywar powers
-inherent in the strueture of even the most libertarian tions ser
havior in
of nations-define the most signiffcantaspectof the re-
tion and
lation between state and citizen.
economi
In advanced modern democratic societies, the war
The r
systemhas provided political leaders with another polit-
honoredr
ical-ecor,omicfunction of increasing importance: it has
elements
served as the last great safeguardagainst the elimination
The disir
of necessarysocial classes.As economicproductivity in-
describe
creasesto a level further and further above that of mini-
societiesI
mum subsistence,it becomesmore and more difficult for
tary outk
a society to maintain distribution patterns insuring the
"hewers of wood and drawers of water"' The function l
existenceof
'to danger si
further progress of automation can be expected -dif-
"superior" workers stigmata
ferentiaG tiill -ot" sharply between
"menials," while simultaneously current e
and what Ricarclo called "alienatio
aggravating the problem of maintaining an unskilled
In earlier
labor supply.
by the mi
The arbittary nature of war expendituresand of other
usuallyth
military activities make them ideally suited to control

* ,
,fgi-Gr-ilf,:FF
 TfrE FUNCTIONS OF \vAR 4l

[or dealing with these essential class relationships. Obviously, if the war
daptedto apply system were to be discarded, new political machinery
-to-daybasis,it would be needed at once to serve this vital subfunction.
:e, armedorgan- Until it is developed, the continuance of the war system
"internal must be assured,if for no other reason, among others,
3 rvith "ex-
:onventional than to preservewhatever quality and degree of poverty
rtantiallyexempt a society requires as an incentive, as well as to maintain
their social be- the stability of its internal organization of power.
tinctionbetween
ot exist.On the Sociological
ncy war powers Under this heading, we will examine a nexus of func-
most libertarian tions served by the war system tlat affect human be-
rspectof the re- havior in society. In general,they are broader in applica-
tion and less susceptible to direct observation than the
rcieties,the war economic and political factors previously considered.
th anotherpolit- The most obvious of these functions is the time-
rportance:it has honored use of military institutions to provide antisocial
t the elimination elementswith an acceptablerole in the social structure.
productivity in- The disintegrative, unstable social movements loosely
"fascist"
ovethat of mini- described as have traditionally taken root in
moredifficult for societiesthat have lacked adequate military or paramili-
rrns insuring the tary outlets to meet the needs of these elements. This
rs of water." The function has been critical in periods of rapid change.The
expectedto dif- danger signals are easy to recognize, even though the
uperior" workers stigmata bear different names at different times. The
Ie simultaneously current euphemistic clich6s-'juvenile delinquency" and
"alienation"-lxys
ng an unskilled had their counterparts in every age.
In earlier days these conditions were dealt with directly
uresand of other by the military without the complicationsof due process,
suited to control usually through press gangsor outright enslavement.But

.l
i

_4(B.At.EF-rrr ..#