There is a divided opinion over whether the primary cause of wars is patriotism or if it serves different purposes. While some claim that it can indeed lead to political conflicts, I am in favor of the idea that it is helpful tool to curb some issues.
On the one hand, according to some, there are various aspects that patriotism can cause wars and conflicts. There is a fact that some nations instill patriotic ideas in people from young ages, causing them to be self-sacrificial for the sake of their countries. In other words, love for the country to extreme can also cause certain stereotypes and stigmas against other nations, which is the reason of wars and other conflicts most of the time. While people being willing to go to war any moment can be beneficial for the government, it can also damage the communication between nations. For example, there is such a huge nationalist ideas in Turkey that the people of the country almost do not have any good connections with other nations.
On the other hand, I side with those who claim that patriotic ideas are a tool to use against people in power to abuse their privileges. What I mean by that is when there are governmental bodies with ill-intents, on that occasion people would uprise against them, usurping the person. Another reason is that people would want to portray their countries in good light among their nations with their humanist behaviours. In other words such countries are usually the ones trying to avoid conflicts so that no harm would come their people, lands and so on as they are aware the fact that wars cause huge damages on economy, people and overall well-being of the country. For example, Canada and Switzerland are the countries with high patriotic feelings and they are barely involved in any aggressive policies.
In conclusion, I personally believe that holding firm love towards one’s country can prevent wars and such negative issues, however, there are also other believing otherwise.