Why are some societies more violent than others?

I developed a theory in high school about why some cultures are more warlike than others:

Around 200,000 years ago, our ancestors — Homo sapiens sapiens — emigrated from Africa. The first place they settled was the Middle East, then India, then China. This is why people first began to farm in Iraq around 8000 b.c., then India, and then China around 4000 b.c. (Spielvogel 4-6).

Those closest to where civilization began became the most warlike. I believe that this was due to overcrowding. Competition for resources led to unending war in the Middle East. There was less war in India, although that culture suffered invasions and settlement by more-warlike peoples, like the Aryans and Muslims (among others). Hinduism — India's traditional religion — advocates Ahimsa (nonviolence), but India still has a history of war and many of its sacred texts contain gory stories similar to our Old Testament. European culture was influenced greatly by cultures in the Middle East (especially by the Hebrews, but also others like the Babylonians — whence our "a tooth for a tooth"). So, the theory goes, European culture is a step away from that of the Middle East just like India's. The most-pacific culture of all these is China's, which stresses harmony (Taoism and Confucianism), and where Buddhism has been popular.

Of course, all societies practice war. But, this is more an indication of the wishes of a nation's rulers rather than its people. Mao Zedong, for example, was just a thug who rose to power largely on the basis of his military skills. He lacked basic respect for Chinese cultural institutions. His Cultural Revolution (1966-70) destroyed many Chinese cultural practices and artifacts. If China were a democracy, then I believe it would be more like Japan today, and I doubt it would have fought the Korean War. When Japan was ruled by military strongmen, it waged war endlessly, but today it is very peaceful. Less-warlike people overthrow their leaders because they are tired of war — e.g., the U.S. in the 1960s — whereas the most-warlike overthrow them because they want war — e.g., Syria after its defeat by Israel in 1948 (Longrigg).

Works consulted

Spielvogel, Jackson. Western Civilization (1997).

Brown, W. Norman. "Hinduism." Encyclopedia Americana. 2007. Grolier Online. http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0202530-00 [13 Apr. 2007]

Longrigg, Stephen H. "Syria >> 4. History and Government." Encyclopedia Americana. 2007. Grolier Online. http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0377350-04 [13 Apr. 2007]