[FredZarguna]

No it was not. They were written at the same time as a collaborative effort between Kubrick and Clarke, based on Clarke's earlier short fiction, and Kubrick is on record saying that he rejected the ending because he'd already done it once before.

[Borges]

Kubrick and Clarke wrote the script based on a short story called The Sentinel and Clarke went on to write the novel - while the film was being made. The ending doesn’t have to show that man has progressed to a state beyond war. It’s implied. There is no reason to make that concrete.