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The Akatsuki is the most famous evil organization in all anime. Its members are comprised of rebels, outcasts, and outlaws. Each member has their own reasons for wreaking havoc on the world of Naruto, and those reasons are much the same as the reasons people go to war in real life.
Masashi Kishimoto, the author of Naruto, wrote each Akatsuki member with a strong purpose in mind. Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, tells Naruto what each member's purpose is during Naruto: Shippuden episode 81. Those purposes for war are all detailed below, and they are accompanied by an explanation as to how that purpose is tied to other events in human history.
Deidera, Sasori, Kakazu, Hidan
Deidera is a self-proclaimed artist. He uses his ability to mold explosive clay figures to level entire cities to the ground in the name of furthering his art. Terrorists use war and destruction to be remembered. War is to terrorists what sculptures are to Michaelangelo. Deidera is much the similar to both terrorists and Michaelangelo. His violent sculptures are his way of making a mark on the world. Sasori is the Akatsuki's puppeteer. He uses his ability to create and control puppets to resolve every issue in his life (including his lack of parental affection). There are many nations that have gone to war like Sasori, because they want to have control over others, or they want to have control over their own people like North Korea. Sasori uses war to both literally and metaphorically puppeteer an entire nation.
Kakazu is the Akatsuki's zombie, who lives by stealing the hearts of his fallen enemies in order to increase his lifespan. His only concern is how to get paid well. War benefits the nations and certain people involved financially. The Conquistadors from Spain went to war with the Aztecs for the gold. Similarly, Kakazu is willing to go to war to secure an income. Hidan is the Akatsuki's vampire. He wants the world to acknowledge he is a God, and is willing to do anything to spread the word. The war in the Crusades was fought over which religion had the true God, and those wars proved the surest way to make people believe in God is to kill those who do not. Like the Crusaders, Hidan uses war to cleanse the world of non-believers.
Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu
Itachi is an Akatsuki gifted with the sharingan, his clan's inherited trait. But when his village demanded it, he killed everyone in his clan except for his younger brother. A patriot is someone who will go to war for the sake of their country, even if their country is morally in the wrong. Itachi embodies the life of a patriot, and his pride as a member of the Hidden Leaf Village is what leads him toward the path of war. Kisame is a former swordsman from the seven swordsmen of the mist. He turned to the Akatsuki after discovering that his superior was selling top secret information to other villages.
Great Britain went to war with the United States in the War of 1812 because Great Britain held a grudge from the American Revolution. Kisame held a grudge against the world because the world lied to him, and he goes to war to right the world's wrongs. Zetsu is the Akatsuki's army, and uses his power to multiply himself, paving the way for the other members of the Akatsuki. Land is what Zetsu says his motivation is, his true motivation lies in his devotion to Madara. A fanatic is someone who goes to war for another person, like the people who followed Julius Caesar, or, like Zetsu.
Konan & Pain
Konan is a powerful warrior and messanger for the Akatsuki. She uses her powers to protect those she loves. The most famous example of going to war for love was in the Trojan War, where a Greek general sent an entire nation to retrieve his wife Helen after the Trojans kidnaped her. Konan's love for her fallen friend Yahiko turns into her devotion to Pain and the Akatsuki. To Konan, war is necessary in the fight to protect those she loves.
Pain is an all powerful, once-in-a-generation talent. He was raised in and knew nothing but war. His only desire is to see a world at peace, where people he cares about can be safe. Through his experience he learned that the only way to achieve peace was to end every violent struggle with violence. Nations going through civil war are especially prone to Pain's kind of thinking. Pain wants to see a peaceful world, and he is willing to go to war with war to make a peaceful world.
Obito & Madara
Obito and Madara are the final villains in Naruto, and the true leaders of the Akatsuki. Each of them is wildly strong and sharply intelligent. They use their intellects to create a world under the infinite Tsukuyomi, in which the whole world would be hypnotized, but at peace under their rule. Their way of thinking is similar to Pain's, but differs because Obito and Madara believe they are superior to everyone around them. It is Obito and Madara's sense of superiority that causes them to think they have the right to enslave the world. Like the Roman Empire, Obito and Madara use their imperialist mindset to drive their war machine.
Nations and people in the world have gone to war for the same reasons as the Akatsuki members above. It is easier to know how to create peace when one understands why someone would go to war. In that sense, Kishimoto is a great proponent of peace.