War has, unfortunately, been an ever-present threat to humanity throughout all of history. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the threat does not seem to have declined very much. After all, there is active military conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kashmir and a dozen other places - these may not all be wars according to general understanding but they certainly have a critical impact on the lives of many millions of people.
However, there are changes in the ways in which war and conflict occur in the twentieth century compared to previous eras in history. First, the nature of human society has changed, irrevocably surely, from one largely based on food production in a rural setting to one dominated by urban life. All around the world there is evidence of countries moving from agrarian to citified society. This is new.
Second, the world changed from a period of relative peace (between Waterloo and the First World War was almost exactly one century) in which the dominant global actor became the British Empire. This was followed by 30 years of conflict (1914-45) and then a period of decolonization and new imperialism against a violent background. Britain, even at the height of its empire, was but one medium-sized power among several and ran its imperial interests entirely for economic reasons. In the early twenty-first century, one power dominates all others in military terms and has been engaged for the past seven years with, soi-disant, an ideological crusade to spread democracy and human rights to other countries.
Third, the nature of warfare has changed utterly. Prior to WWI, warfare primarily involved armed combatants who were marked out by wearing uniforms and who conducted their military operations according to internationally accepted norms and treaties. Approximately 5% of casualties then were civilians and, even then, they were likely to be citizens resident in areas very close to the fighting. Through the twentieth century, the proportion of citizens to combatants has radically changed. Now, only 5% of casualties of conflict are likely to be armed combatants and 95% civilians. Those fighting are less likely to be distinguished by their uniforms and the distinction between war and peace has become hugely more complex. Conflict is more likely to be within rather than across borders. The word "war" is used loosely (and often unhelpfully) in such policies as "War against Drugs," "War against Cancer" and the "War on Terror."
For further details, see Eric Hobsbawm, Globalisation, Democracy and Terrorism (London: Abacus, 2008). Hobsbawm is one of the leading historians of the modern world and combines a broad ranging understanding of the world with a readable and accessible style.
