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− | #REDIRECT [[Violence]] | + | [[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild,_Guernica,_Ruinen-200.jpg|right|frame]] |
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| + | ==Origin== |
| + | [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] ''werre'', from Anglo-French ''werre'', ''guerre'', of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German ''werra'' strife; akin to Old High German ''werran'' to [[confuse]] |
| + | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_century 12th Century] |
| + | ==Definitions== |
| + | *1a (1) : a state of usually open and declared armed hostile [[conflict]] between states or [[nations]] (2) : a period of such armed conflict (3) : [[state]] of war |
| + | :b : the art or [[science]] of warfare |
| + | :c (1) obsolete : weapons and equipment for war (2) archaic : [[soldiers]] armed and equipped for war |
| + | *2a : a state of hostility, conflict, or [[antagonism]] |
| + | :b : a [[struggle]] or [[competition]] between opposing forces or for a particular end <a class war> <a war against [[disease]]> |
| + | <center>For lessons on the [[topic]] of '''''War''''', follow [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:War '''''this link'''''].</center> |
| + | ==Description== |
| + | '''War''' is an organised and often prolonged armed [[conflict]] that is carried out by states and/or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-state_actors non-state actors]. It is characterised by [[extreme]] [[violence]], social disruption, and [[economic]] [[destruction]]. War should be understood as an actual, [[intentional]] and widespread armed conflict between political [[communities]], and therefore is defined as a form of political [[violence]] or intervention. The set of [[techniques]] used by a group to carry out war is known as warfare. An [[absence]] of war is usually called [[peace]]. |
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| + | In 2003, Nobel Laureate [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Smalley Richard E. Smalley] identified war as the sixth (of ten) biggest [[problem]] facing the [[society]] of mankind for the next fifty years. In the 1832 treatise ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_War On War]'', Prussian military general and theoretician [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz Carl von Clausewitz] defined war as follows: "War is thus an [[act]] of [[force]] to compel our [[enemy]] to do our will." |
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| + | While some [[scholars]] see warfare as an inescapable and integral aspect of [[human]] nature, others argue that it is only [[inevitable]] under certain socio-cultural or ecological circumstances. Some scholars argue that the [[practice]] of war is not linked to any single type of [[political]] organization or society. Rather, as discussed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keegan John Keegan] in his ''History of Warfare'', war is a [[universal]] [[phenomenon]] whose form and scope is defined by the society that wages it. Another [[argument]] suggests that since there are human societies in which warfare does not exist, humans may not be naturally disposed for warfare, which emerges under particular circumstances. The ever changing [[technologies]] and potentials of war extend along a historical continuum. At the one end lies the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endemic_warfare endemic warfare] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic Paleolithic] with its stones and clubs, and the naturally limited loss of life associated with the use of such [[weapons]]. Found at the other end of this continuum is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare nuclear warfare], along with the recently developed possible outcome of its use, namely the potential [[risk]] of the complete [[extinction]] of the human [[species]]. |
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| + | The deadliest war of the 21st century, in terms of cumulative number of deaths since start, is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War Second Congo War], with 3–5 million deaths since 1998, although it was nearly invisible in non-African media.[8] As of 2013, the largest ongoing conflicts in terms of deaths are the Mexican Drug War and the Syrian civil war. |