Why War? January 11th, 2025 at 2:30PM Future Event This question is nearly always posed rhetorically, as in: there is no “good” reason for war, is there? But responses to Why War? that grasp it literally are surely also called for. At the very least, merely insisting on war’s moral vacuity has sadly failed to drive it to extinction. Writing two centuries ago Clausewitz claimed that “war is the continuation of policy by other means”. This phrase concisely frames the problem this panel intends to address. What really are the reasons for war? Definitionally, aggression is at its root. And yet aggression, both predatory and defensive, is a natural state, a form of behavior and a motivating force not limited to humanity. Does humankind express uniquely a surplus of destructiveness and sadism? If the answer to this question is yes, what then might account for this excess beyond Nature’s provision? A psychological response to this puzzle came in Freud’s writings, but especially in Civilization and Its Discontents. Here Freud describes how social organization requires the repression of our inborn instincts, but the ensuing and unavoidable conflicts arising between individuals and groups simmer and ultimately boil over. Aggression then erupts in its destructive mode; push comes to shove comes to grenade, and so forth. Psychoanalysts following along Freud’s path, among them Marcuse, Fromm, and Fanon, expanded his analysis into the sociological realm. According to these theorists it is a “sickness” in the social structure – economic, racist, imperialist – that leads to greater frustrations and greater aggression; that social oppression and not simple psychological repression is what causes that excess of destruction beyond what we find in the animal world. Our previous roundtable, Otherness, introduced another important element in this discussion. Xenophobia and nationalism seem to evolve and grow like weeds, both across the globe and as a constant strain within history. What role do nationalism and tribalism play in the indelible history of war? Most importantly, from among these reasons for war what might we address to bring an end to the sort of pain and suffering that is too horrid to contemplate without an injury to our souls? Participants: Richard Betts Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Emeritus, Columbia University Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations Richard K. Betts is the Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Emeritus in the Columbia University political science department and School of International and Public Affairsand adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He works on international politics and U.S. national security policy. For many years he was director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and the International Security Policy program at Columbia. Betts was… read more » Dayu Lin Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine Dayu Lin, Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Department of Neuroscience and Physiology New York University Grossman School of Medicine, has studied the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of social behaviors, especially aggression and parental behaviors for the last 20 years. Her studies investigate the neural circuits driving and modulating those behaviors, as well… read more » Charles Marmar Schub Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine Director, NYU Center for Precision Medicine in Alcohol Use Disorder & PTSD Executive Director, NYU Langone Military Family Center Charles R. Marmar, MD joined NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Langone Health in 2009 as the Lucius N. Littauer Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. He has recently been named the Peter H. Schub Professor of Psychiatry. He also serves as Director of the Center for Precision Medicine in Alcohol Use Disorders… read more » Edward Nersessian Director, The Helix Center Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College Training & Supervising Psychoanalyst, New York Psychoanalytic Institute Edward Nersessian is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical College, Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, Distinguished Life Member of the American Psychiatric Association, and Corresponding Member of Société Psychanalytique de Paris. He is co-founder and first co-editor of the journal Neuropsychoanalysis, co-editor of theTextbook of Psychoanalysis and of Controversies in Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He… read more » Joe Peyronnin Professor, Journalism, NYU Associate Professor. Journalism. Hofstra University Joe Peyronnin has been an adjunct journalism professor at NYU since 2008, and he served as a full time associate professor of journalism at Hofstra University from 2011-19. In 2017 he was voted “Teacher of the Year” at Hofstra’s School of Communication. Peyronnin previously had been an award-winning producer and senior executive in broadcast journalism… read more »
Richard Betts Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Emeritus, Columbia University Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations Richard K. Betts is the Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Emeritus in the Columbia University political science department and School of International and Public Affairsand adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He works on international politics and U.S. national security policy. For many years he was director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and the International Security Policy program at Columbia. Betts was… read more »
Dayu Lin Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine Dayu Lin, Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Department of Neuroscience and Physiology New York University Grossman School of Medicine, has studied the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of social behaviors, especially aggression and parental behaviors for the last 20 years. Her studies investigate the neural circuits driving and modulating those behaviors, as well… read more »
Charles Marmar Schub Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine Director, NYU Center for Precision Medicine in Alcohol Use Disorder & PTSD Executive Director, NYU Langone Military Family Center Charles R. Marmar, MD joined NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Langone Health in 2009 as the Lucius N. Littauer Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. He has recently been named the Peter H. Schub Professor of Psychiatry. He also serves as Director of the Center for Precision Medicine in Alcohol Use Disorders… read more »
Edward Nersessian Director, The Helix Center Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College Training & Supervising Psychoanalyst, New York Psychoanalytic Institute Edward Nersessian is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical College, Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, Distinguished Life Member of the American Psychiatric Association, and Corresponding Member of Société Psychanalytique de Paris. He is co-founder and first co-editor of the journal Neuropsychoanalysis, co-editor of theTextbook of Psychoanalysis and of Controversies in Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He… read more »
Joe Peyronnin Professor, Journalism, NYU Associate Professor. Journalism. Hofstra University Joe Peyronnin has been an adjunct journalism professor at NYU since 2008, and he served as a full time associate professor of journalism at Hofstra University from 2011-19. In 2017 he was voted “Teacher of the Year” at Hofstra’s School of Communication. Peyronnin previously had been an award-winning producer and senior executive in broadcast journalism… read more »