"Simplicity is the cure for violence. For example, if we postulate an imaginary oracle that could predict the outcome of any battle, we could eliminate war. The predicted loser would have no incentive but to concede to the demands of the predicted winner. But since there is no such oracle, the only way to avert violence is to define an algorithm simple enough for both sides and an independent third party to execute with minimal chance of disagreement, and endow that third party with whatever Power it needs to enforce that result – and, ideally, no more.
The word “violence” demands clarification. Violence does not always involve bloodshed. The point of violence is for side A to use “any means necessary” to convince side B that resisting some outcome is counterproductive. Thus we consider robbery a violent crime, even if no one is hurt.
Similarly, a battle may be resolved by agreeing to fight not with real guns but with paintball guns, and respecting the outcome. Or by setting rules that reduce but do not eliminate the physical damage of battle, and have no significant effect on the result. Symbolic and restricted violence of this sort is common in primitive humans, and indeed is the general rule in the animal kingdom. In general the goal of symbolic violence is to figure out who would win in an unrestricted fight to the death. As long as the results of these processes are identical, there is no incentive for either party to deviate from the symbolic convention. And even if they are not quite identical, the parallel may be good enough.
