This is the fundamental failure of the left--the *faith* in there always being a path to avoiding conflict. This is most definitely a faith-based position, nev

This is the fundamental failure of the left--the *faith* in there always being a path to avoiding conflict. This is most definitely a faith-based position, never defended by reason. It's simply always taken as a sign that the side with "more power" (by their yardstick, not always correct) failed to use it's power responsibly. If both sides are sure of what would happen with conflict there will always be peace. Nobody's going to pick a fight they know they will lose unless losing is just as bad as not fighting in the first place (say, your opponent wishes to kill you.) However, in the real world knowledge is far from perfect and circumstances can change. War happens when the two sides have different evaluations of the expected outcome. (And you also have cases where losing is the objective--at least a double digit percentage of police shootings are suicide by cop and plenty more are people who evaluate dying as preferable to jail. Not outright suicide but pretty close to it. De-escalation is completely useless against both of these groups.)