War and Human Nature

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the central ideas of the movie "Lord of War" and of the documentary "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara". The paper explores the common theme of human nature during war and the need for power, especially over other countries. The paper looks at McNamara's "eleven lessons" learned during his tenure as secretary of defense. The paper relates that "Lord of War" is the acknowledgment of humanity's darker nature; men created weapons of mass destruction and used them to kill. The paper portrays how both the documentary and movie are a study of the moral complexities of war and those who fight it.

From the Paper:

"McNamara discusses his experiences and shares some lessons he learned during his tenure as secretary of defense. He talks about his work as a bombing statistician during World War II, his presidency at Ford Motor Company and the Kennedy administration's triumph during the Cuban Missile Crisis. On the other hand the documentary focuses primarily on his failures in Vietnam. The main themes of the movie are his "eleven lessons" learned during his time. Some of these include: understanding the enemy, accepting that in order to do good it is necessary to engage in evil and the fight to try to change human nature will always be unsuccessfully."

Sample of Sources Used:

• The Fog of War. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified on Mar 8, 2007, retrieved Mar 16, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_fog_of_war
• Lord of War. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified on Mar 8, 2007, retrieved Mar 16, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_war
• Dwight D. Eisenhower. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified on Mar 8, 2007, retrieved Mar 16, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower
• Military-industrial complex. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified on Mar 8, 2007, retrieved Mar 16, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/military_industrial_complex

More papers on War and Human Nature:

• Research Paper # 75572 : "War and Human Nature"
• Term Paper # 88856 : "Human rights vs. Human Nature"
• Analytical Essay # 145855 : "Human Nature in "Lord of the Flies"

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