Can collective violence be prevented?

Abstract

This article explores the question of how wars arise between nations, what their prerequisites are, what feeds them, and which psychodynamic processes play a role. The illusion of winning (defeating), which glorifies and justifies violence, is examined, as is the ignorance or lack of awareness of the unlimited creative and healing potential of nations and individuals in general. The latter is considered an opportunity for a genuine change in values that could put an end to the seemingly endless interplay of violence and fear, perpetrator and victim, in human history. It is up to the individual to decide what part and what influence he or she has as a passive or active, psychodynamic, emotional, mental, verbal or even physical participant in the dynamics of war. There is a choice for every individual and every nation.