In recognition of this fact parties have, throughout history organized large military forces designed to employ violence on their behalf and to resist the violent assaults of others. Not surprisingly violence is still widely used in confrontations ranging from the interpersonal to the international. There are, however, numerous problems associated with the use of violent dispute resolution strategies. Most obviously, violence tends to escalate into all-out confrontations in which the parties employ all of their resources in an attempt to defeat, and often utterly destroy, their opponents. As violence escalates, taboos against inhumane treatment are broken, with each atrocity providing justification for future atrocities.
History abounds with horrific stories of the terrible costs of violent confrontations.
In addition to the death and destruction which accompanies violence, there are also enormous costs associated with preparing for violent confrontation and making violent threats. All of the money and effort that is put into a deterrence force is money and effort that is diverted from more positive uses. Violence also tends to overwhelm honest efforts to address the core substantive issues, and it destroys the ability of the parties to engage in mutually beneficial collaborative efforts. Also disturbing is the fact that violent winners are determined by physical power and their willingness to use it ruthlessly, not by the moral legitimacy of their goals. In other words, violent power is commonly used to perpetuate injustice and subjugate less powerful groups.