ABSTRACT
In Chapter 8, we end with war. We start from the “rational” war of Clausewitz and show how technical and global development changes both the aims of war and the complexity of consequential effects which lead to increasing difficulties in realizing the “rational” war. Our conclusion is that for those who realize the complexities of the world, a traditional war between states is an anomaly since that is also self-destruction, but at the same time we realize the increasing gaps in understanding of this. Persons who desire power per se – that is, more the insignia of power than the responsibilities of power – may rise to power by painting a rosy picture of the future and/or riding on waves of fear and hatred, and they may become an enormous threat to the whole world. There is no defence against this except what we earlier discussed: enlightenment and personal maturity, combined with living and active democracy of full transparency and freedom of speech.
