Striking Back

But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
—Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:39-42

As Harvard professor of psychology Daniel Gilbert puts it in a recent editorial for The New York Times (He who casts the first stone probably didn't), most nations claim another nation struck them first. He writes, "since 1948, it’s hard to think of any partisan in the Middle East who has done anything but play defense."

Professor Gilbert goes on to explain the underlying psychology operating at the individual level, which comes into play at the international level as well. A primary issue as he explains it is

Because our senses point outward, we can observe other people’s actions but not our own. Second, because mental life is a private affair, we can observe our own thoughts but not the thoughts of others. Together, these facts suggest that our reasons for punching will always be more salient to us than the punches themselves—but that the opposite will be true of other people’s reasons and other people’s punches.

And we usually will strike back harder once a fight ensues as

the escalation [is] the natural byproduct of a neurological quirk that causes the pain we receive to seem more painful than the pain we produce, so we usually give more pain than we have received.

The professor concludes that

None of this is to deny the roles that hatred, intolerance, avarice and deceit play in human conflict. It is simply to say that basic principles of human psychology are important ingredients in this miserable stew. Until we learn to stop trusting everything our brains tell us about others—and to start trusting others themselves—there will continue to be tears and recriminations in the wayback.

The full text of the article (He who casts the first stone probably didn't) is worth reading. What Jesus offered as a counterpoint to the tit for tat of conflicts is

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
—Matthew 5:43-46