The Evolution of the Concept of War in the Modern World (Some Considerations Inspired by Mary Kaldor’s Book)

The paper presents some considerations, partly polemic, inspired by Mary Kaldor’s book New and Old Wars. For this end, a brief comparative analysis is suggested of large-scale wars of the past (starting from the17th and with particular attention to the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries), on the one hand, and the so called “new wars”, on the other. The concept of “war” has been actual permanently, but it underwent changes, the most serious of them took place at the beginning and in the middle of the 20st century. However, the current political situation on the world scene shows that the conflicts of the globalization era differ considerably from those of previous centuries which were mainly conducted according to the generally adopted “rules of war” considered now as classical.

The substantial role in modern violent collisions is played by a conflict of identities which was not so important when wars were conducted mainly between national states. Unlike conflicts of the previous centuries, the military confrontations of today may occur not only between states, but also inside the single country, where different groups of participants are pursuing their own goals in frameworks of identity policy. The traditional notion of civil war is not enough to cover this variety. Due to the global nature of the modern conflicts and involvement of the variety of participants, the conflict resolution seems to be more complicated than ever. Moreover, the identity factor has become an effective tool for different parties of the conflict who tend to use it at their own convenience. Consequently, resolution of modern violent conflicts, wherever they develop, demands contemporary and often non-trivial solutions, as well as close attention of the global community. 

The author believes that to resolve modern conflicts effectively, the world society should create a unified and comprehensive definition of the concept of “war” as well as invent new ways of the conflict solution taking into consideration, among other things, the diverse dynamics of globalization processes.

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