an essay on war

Essays About War: Top 5 Examples and 5 Prompts

War is atrocious and there is an almost universal rule that we should be prevented; if you are writing essays about war, read our helpful guide.

Throughout history, war has driven human progress. It has led to the dissolution of oppressive regimes and the founding of new democratic countries. There is no doubt that the world would not be as it is without the many wars waged in the past.

War is waged to achieve a nation or organization’s goals, but what is the actual cost of progress? War has taken, and continues to take, countless lives. It is and is very costly in terms of resources as well. From the American Revolution to World Wars I and II to the Crusades and Hundred Years’ War of antiquity, wars throughout history have been bloody, brutal, and disastrous. 

If you are writing essays about war, look at our top essay examples below.

1. War Is Not Part of Human Nature by R. Brian Ferguson

2. essay on war and peace (author unknown), 3. the impacts of war on global health by sarah moore.

• 4.  The Psychosocial Impacts of War and Armed Conflict on Children by Iman Farajallah, Omar Reda, H. Steven Moffic, John R. Peteet, and Ahmed Hankir

5. ​​Is war a pre-requisite for peace? by Anna Cleary

5 prompts for essays about war, 1. is war justified, 2. why do countries go to war, 3. the effects of war, 4. moral and ethical issues concerning war, 5. reflecting on a historical war.

“Debate over war and human nature will not soon be resolved. The idea that intensive, high-casualty violence was ubiquitous throughout prehistory has many backers. It has cultural resonance for those who are sure that we as a species naturally tilt toward war. As my mother would say: “Just look at history!” But doves have the upper hand when all the evidence is considered. Broadly, early finds provide little if any evidence suggesting war was a fact of life.”

Ferguson disputes the popular belief that war is inherent to human nature, as evidenced by archaeological discoveries. Many archaeologists use the very same evidence to support the opposing view. Evidence reveals many instances where war was waged, but not fought. In the minds of Ferguson and many others, humanity may be predisposed to conflict and violence, but not war, as many believe. 

“It also appears that if peace were to continue for a long period, people would become sick of the monotony of life and would seek war for a changed man is a highly dynamic creature and it seems that he cannot remain contented merely with works of peace-the cultivation of arts, the development of material comforts, the extension of knowledge, the means and appliances of a happy life.”

This essay provides an interesting perspective on war; other than the typical motivations for war, such as the desire to achieve one’s goals; the author writes that war disrupts the monotony of peace and gives participants a sense of excitement and uncertainty. In addition, it instills the spirit of heroism and bravery in people. However, the author does not dispute that war is evil and should be avoided as much as possible. 

“War forces people to flee their homes in search of safety, with the latest figures from the UN estimating that around 70 million people are currently displaced due to war. This displacement can be incredibly detrimental to health, with no safe and consistent place to sleep, wash, and shelter from the elements. It also removes a regular source of food and proper nutrition. As well as impacting physical health, war adversely affects the mental health of both those actively involved in conflict and civilians.”

Moore discusses the side effects that war has on civilians. For example, it diverts resources used on poverty alleviation and infrastructure towards fighting. It also displaces civilians when their homes are destroyed, reduces access to food, water, and sanitation, and can significantly impact mental health, among many other effects. 

4.   The Psychosocial Impacts of War and Armed Conflict on Children by Iman Farajallah, Omar Reda, H. Steven Moffic, John R. Peteet, and Ahmed Hankir

“The damage done by war-related trauma can never be undone. We can, however, help reduce its long-term impacts, which can span generations. When we reach within ourselves to discover our humanity, it allows us to reach out to the innocent children and remind them of their resilience and beauty. Trauma can make or break us as individuals, families, and communities.”

In their essay, the authors explain how war can affect children. Children living in war-torn areas expectedly witness a lot of violence, including the killings of their loved ones. This may lead to the inability to sleep properly, difficulty performing daily functions, and a speech impediment. The authors write that trauma cannot be undone and can ruin a child’s life.  

“The sociologist Charles Tilly has argued that war and the nation state are inextricably linked. War has been crucial for the formation of the nation state, and remains crucial for its continuation. Anthony Giddens similarly views a link between the internal pacification of states and their external violence. It may be that, if we want a durable peace, a peace built on something other than war, we need to consider how to construct societies based on something other than the nation state and its monopoly of violence.”

This essay discusses the irony that war is waged to achieve peace. Many justify war and believe it is inevitable, as the world seems to balance out an era of peace with another war. However, others advocate for total pacifism. Even in relatively peaceful times, organizations and countries have been carrying out “shadow wars” or engaging in conflict without necessarily going into outright war. Cleary cites arguments made that for peace to indeed exist by itself, societies must not be built on the war in the first place. 

Many believe that war is justified by providing a means to peace and prosperity. Do you agree with this statement? If so, to what extent? What would you consider “too much” for war to be unjustified? In your essay, respond to these questions and reflect on the nature and morality of war. 

Wars throughout history have been waged for various reasons, including geographical domination, and disagreement over cultural and religious beliefs. In your essay, discuss some of the reasons different countries go to war, you can look into the belief systems that cause disagreements, oppression of people, and leaders’ desire to conquer geographical land. For an interesting essay, look to history and the reasons why major wars such as WWI and WWII occurred.

In this essay, you can write about war’s effects on participating countries. You can focus on the impact of war on specific sectors, such as healthcare or the economy. In your mind, do they outweigh the benefits? Discuss the positive and negative effects of war in your essay. To create an argumentative essay, you can pick a stance if you are for or against war. Then, argue your case and show how its effects are positive, negative, or both.

Many issues arise when waging war, such as the treatment of civilians as “collateral damage,” keeping secrets from the public, and torturing prisoners. For your essay, choose an issue that may arise when fighting a war and determine whether or not it is genuinely “unforgivable” or “unacceptable.” Are there instances where it is justified? Be sure to examples where this issue has arisen before.

Humans have fought countless wars throughout history. Choose one significant war and briefly explain its causes, major events, and effects. Conduct thorough research into the period of war and the political, social, and economic effects occurred. Discuss these points for a compelling cause and effect essay.

For help with this topic, read our guide explaining “what is persuasive writing ?”If you still need help, our guide to grammar and punctuation explains more.

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How to Write a Perfect Essay On/About War (A Complete Guide)

War is painful. It causes mass death and the destruction of infrastructure on an unimaginable scale. Unfortunately, as humans, we have not yet been able to prevent wars and conflicts from happening. Nevertheless, we are studying them to understand them and their causes better.

In this post, we will look at how to write a war essay. The information we will share here will help anyone craft a brilliant war essay, whatever their level of education.

Let’s commence.

What Is a War Essay?

A war essay is an essay on an armed conflict involving two states or one state and an armed group. You will be asked to write a war essay at some point if you are taking a history course, diplomacy course, international relations course, war studies course, or conflict management course.

When asked to write about a war, it is important to consider several things. These include the belligerents, the location of the conflict, the leading cause or causes of the conflict, the course of the event so far, and the possible solutions to the conflict.

The sections below will help you discover everything you need to know about how to write war essays.

An essay about war can take many forms, including:

• Expository essay – where you explore the timeline of the wars (conflicts), losses/consequences, significant battles, and notable dates.
• Argumentative essay . A war essay that debates an aspect of a certain war.
• Cause and Effect essay examines the events leading to war and its aftermath.
• Compare and contrast a war essay that pits one war or an aspect of the war against an
• Document-based question (DBQ) that analyzes the historical war documentation to answer a prompt.
• Creative writing pieces where you narrate or describe an experience of or with war.
• A persuasive essay where use ethos, pathos, and logos (rhetorical appeals) to convince your readers to adopt your points.

The Perfect Structure/Organization for a War Essay

To write a good essay about war, you must understand the war essay structure. The war essay structure is the typical 3-section essay structure. It starts with an introduction section, followed by a body section, and then a conclusion section. Find out what you need to include in each section below:

1. Introduction

In the introduction paragraph , you must introduce the reader to the war or conflict you are discussing. But before you do so, you need to hook the reader to your work. You can only do this by starting your introduction with an attention-grabbing statement . This can be a fact about the war, a quote, or a statistic.

Once you have grabbed the reader's attention, you should introduce the reader to the conflict your essay is focused on. You should do this by providing them with a brief background on the conflict.

Your thesis statement should follow the background information. This is the main argument your essay will be defending.

The introduction section of a war essay is typically one paragraph long. But it can be two paragraphs long for long war essays.

In the body section of your war essay, you need to provide information to support your thesis statement. A typical body section of a college essay will include three to four body paragraphs. Each body paragraph starts with a topic sentence and solely focuses on it. This is how your war essay should be.

Once you develop a thesis statement, you should think of the points you will use to defend it and then list them in terms of strength. The strongest of these points should be your topic sentences.

When developing the body section of your war essay, make sure your paragraphs flow nicely. This will make your essay coherent. One of the best ways to make your paragraphs flow is to use transition words, phrases, and sentences.

The body section of a war essay is typically three to four paragraphs long, but it can be much longer.

3. Conclusion

In the conclusion section of your war essay, you must wrap up everything nicely. The recommended way to do this is to restate your thesis statement to remind the reader what your essay was about. You should follow this by restating the main points supporting your thesis statement.

Your thesis and the restatement of your main points should remind your reader of what your essay was all about. You should then end your essay with a food-for-thought, a recommendation, or a solution. Whatever you use to end your essay, make sure it is relevant to what you have just covered in your essay, and it shows that you have widely read on the topic.

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How to write a war Essay? – The Steps

Several wars have taken place on earth, including:

• World War I and II
• Russian Civil War
• Chinese Civil War
• Lebanese Civil War
• Syrian Civil War
• The Spanish Civil War
• The American Civil War
• Afghanistan War

The list of wars that have happened to date is endless.

Writing a war essay is never easy. You need to plan your work meticulously to develop a brilliant war essay. If you are assigned to write a war essay or paper, follow the steps below to develop a brilliant essay on any conflict.

1. Read The Assignment Instructions Carefully

You must know precisely what to do to write a brilliant war essay. College professors typically provide multiple instructions when they ask students to write college essays. Students must then read the instructions carefully to write precisely what their professors want to see.

Therefore, when you get a war essay assignment, you must read the instructions carefully to understand what is needed of you entirely. Know exactly what conflict your professor wants you to focus on, what aspect of the conflict (the origin, the chronology of events leading to the war, external factors, etc.), what sources they want you to use, and the number of pages they want.

Knowing what your professor needs will help you to develop it nicely.

2. Do Your Research

After reviewing the war assignment instructions, you should research the topic you’ve been asked to focus on. Do this by Googling the topic (and its variations), searching it in your college database, and searching it in scholarly databases. As you read more on the topic, take a lot of notes. This will help you to understand the topic better, plus its nuances.

Once you understand the topic well, you should start to think about what precisely your essay should focus on. If you like, this will be the foundation of your essay or the thesis statement.

Once you settle on the thesis statement, read more on the topic but focus on information that will help you defend your thesis statement.

3. Craft A Thesis Statement and Create an Outline

At this point, you should have a rough thesis statement . Once you have read more information on it as per the previous step, you should be able to refine it into a solid and argumentative statement at this point.

So refine your thesis statement to make it perfect. Your thesis statement can be one or two sentences long but never more. Once you have created it, you should create an outline.

An outline is like a treasure map – it details where you must go comprehensively. Creating an outline will give you an overview of what your essay will look like and whether it will defend your thesis statement. It will also make it easier for you to develop your essay.

Ensure your outline includes a striking title for your conflict essay, the topic sentence for each body paragraph, and the supporting evidence for each topic sentence.

Related Read:

• Writing a compelling claim in an essay
• How to write sound arguments and counterarguments

4. Start Writing the Introduction

When you finish writing your essay, you should start writing the introduction. This is where the rubber meets the road –the actual writing of your war essay begins.

Since you have already created a thesis statement and an outline, you should not find it challenging to write your introduction. Follow your outline to develop a friendly compact, and informative introduction to the conflict your essay will focus on.

Read your introduction twice to make sure it is as compact and as informative as it can be. It should also be straightforward to understand.

5. Write The Rest of Your Essay

Once you have created the introduction to your war essay, you should create the body section. The body section of your essay should follow your outline. Remember the outline you created in step 3 has the points you should focus on in each body paragraph. So follow it to make developing your essay’s body section easy.

As you develop your essay's body section, ensure you do everything nicely. By this, we mean you develop each topic sentence entirely using the sandwich paragraph writing method.

Also, make sure there is a nice flow between your sentences and between your paragraphs.

6. Conclude Your War Essay

After writing the rest of your essay, you should offer a robust conclusion. Your conclusion should also follow your outline. As usual, it should start with a thesis restatement and a restatement of all your main points.

It should then be followed by a concluding statement that provides the reader with food for thought. You should never include new information in your conclusion paragraph. This will make it feel like another body paragraph, yet the purpose of your conclusion should be to give your reader the feeling that your essay is ending or done.

7. Proofread and Edit Your Essay

This is the last step of writing a war essay or any other one. This step is final, but it is perhaps the most important step. This is because it distinguishes an ordinary essay from an extraordinary one.

You should proofread your essay at least thrice, especially if it is short. When you do it the first time, you should look for grammar errors and other basic mistakes. Eliminate all the errors and mistakes you find. When you do it the second time, you should do it to ensure the flow of your essay is perfect.

And when you do it the third and last time, you should use editing software like Grammarly.com to catch all the errors you might have missed.

When you proofread your war essay in this manner, you should be able to transform it from average to excellent. After completing this step, your war essay will be ready for submission.

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Tips for Writing a Brilliant War Essay

Follow the tips below to develop a brilliant essay.

• A brilliant topic is always vital.

When you are assigned a war essay, you should do your best to choose or create a brilliant topic for your essay. A boring topic focusing on something discussed and debated a million times will never be brilliant.

• A strong thesis statement is essential.

Along with a brilliant topic, you need a strong thesis statement to make your war essay brilliant. This is because a strong thesis statement is like a lighthouse – it will guide safely to the harbor (conclusion).

• Do not be afraid to discuss the tragedy.

Sometimes war details can feel too graphic or gruesome, leading to hesitance on the part of students when they are writing articles. Do not hesitate or be afraid to discuss tragedy if discussing tragedy will add to the substance of your essay.

• Be impartial.

Sometimes it can be challenging to write an impartial essay, especially if you relate to or strongly support one side in a conflict. Well, this should never happen. As a researcher, you must be as impartial as you can be. You must inform your reader of all the facts available to you without bias so they have an accurate impression of whatever you are talking about.

• Ensure your work has flow.

This is one of the most important things you must do when writing a war essay. Since war essays sometimes discuss disparate issues, ending with a disjointed essay is straightforward. You should do all you can to ensure your workflows are well, including using transition words generously. 

• Proofread your work.

You should always proofread your essays before submission. This is what will always upgrade them from ordinary to extraordinary. If you don’t proofread your work, you will submit subpar work that will not get you a good grade.

• Explore unexplored angles.

Chances are, whatever war or conflict you write about has already been written on or reported on a million times. If you want your essay to be interesting, you should explore unexplored angles on conflicts. This will make your work very interesting.

War Essay Sample to Inspire your Writing

Here is a short sample of a war essay on the Russia-Ukraine War.

The most affected cities in the Russia-Ukraine War 2022

The Russia-Ukraine war has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions across Ukraine. It has also led to the destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure across Ukraine. The eastern cities of Bakhmut, Kharkiv, and Mariupol are the most affected cities in the Russia-Ukraine War 2022.

Bakhmut in southeastern Ukraine is the site of the bloodiest and longest-running battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces. The city is strategic as it is close to supply routes that the Russians use in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine. It is estimated that as much as 90% of Bakhmut has been destroyed in Russia’s bid to take over the city.

Mariupol is a Ukrainian port city between Russia and the Russian-occupied Crimea. Russia decided to take the city early on to deny Ukraine a foothold close to its border and operation areas in the south. Yet the city was defended by a fanatic Ukrainian military battalion that swore not to give it up. This led to Russia bombing much of the city to the ground. In the end, Russia won the battle for Mariupol and now controls the city and the surrounding area.

Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second biggest city. It is less than 45 minutes away from the Russian border. Taking the city was one of the top priorities for Russia at the start of the war because of its proximity to Russia. Nevertheless, Ukraine deployed much of its army to defend the city and has managed to do so. Nevertheless, this has come at a cost. Much of Kharkiv’s infrastructure is destroyed. Its power lines, highways, roads, railways, dams, and industries are destroyed.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has affected much of Ukraine, especially the eastern cities of Bakhmut, Kharkiv, and Mariupol. All three cities have suffered tremendous infrastructure damage in the past few months. Efforts must be made by the two state parties and the international community to prevent further destruction of Ukrainian cities in this conflict.

War Essay Topic Ideas

Not sure what to write about in your war essay? Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

• Causes of Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022
• What led to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014?
• Causes of Tigray conflict in Ethiopia
• Somalia-Kenya border conflict
• Conflict in eastern DRC
• Secessionist movements in the UK
• Western Sahara versus Morocco
• Causes of the Libyan Civil War
• The American war of independence
• The American civil war
• The English civil war
• The Napoleonic wars
• The French invasion of Russia
• Causes of the crusader wars
• The German invasion of Poland and its consequences
• The battle of Stalingrad and its bearing on the cause of WWII
• The causes of World War I
• The Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia
• What caused America to end the Vietnam War
• The Cuban Missile Crisis
• The fall of the Berlin Wall
• The Arms Race
• Role of the cold world war in shaping the world we live today
• The causes and consequences of the Syrian Civil War
• The role of propaganda in the Iraq War
• Implications of the Syrian Civil War

As you Come to the End, …

An essay on war is not easy to write, but it can be written when you have the right information. This post provides you with all the vital information needed to write a brilliant war essay. We hope that this info makes it easy for you to write your war essay.

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How to Write War Essay: Russia Ukraine War

Understanding the Purpose and Scope of a War Essay

A condition of armed conflict between nations or between groups living in one nation is known as war. Sounds not like much fun, does it? Well, conflicts have been a part of human history for thousands of years, and as industry and technology have developed, they have grown more devastating. As awful as it might seem, a war typically occurs between a country or group of countries against a rival country to attain a goal through force. Civil and revolutionary wars are examples of internal conflicts that can occur inside a nation.

Your history class could ask you to write a war essay, or you might be personally interested in learning more about conflicts, in which case you might want to learn how to write an academic essay about war. In any scenario, we have gathered valuable guidance on how to organize war essays. Let's first examine the potential reasons for a conflict before moving on to the outline for a war essay.

• Economic Gain - A country's desire to seize control of another country's resources frequently starts conflicts. Even when the proclaimed goal of a war is portrayed to the public as something more admirable, most wars have an economic motivation at their core, regardless of any other possible causes.
• Territorial Gain - A nation may determine that it requires additional land for habitation, agriculture, or other uses. Additionally, the territory might serve as buffer zones between two violent foes.
• Religion - Religious disputes can stem from extremely profound issues. They may go dormant for many years before suddenly resurfacing later.
• Nationalism - In this sense, nationalism simply refers to the act of violently subjugating another country to demonstrate the country's superiority. This frequently manifests as an invasion.
• Revenge - Warfare can frequently be motivated by the desire to punish, make up for, or simply exact revenge for perceived wrongdoing. Revenge has a connection to nationalism as well because when a nation has been wronged, its citizens are inspired by patriotism and zeal to take action.
• Defensive War - In today's world, when military aggression is being questioned, governments will frequently claim that they are fighting in a solely protective manner against a rival or prospective aggressor and that their conflict is thus a 'just' conflict. These defensive conflicts may be especially contentious when conducted proactively, with the basic premise being that we are striking them before they strike us.

How to Write War Essay with a War Essay Outline

Just like in compare and contrast examples and any other forms of writing, an outline for a war essay assists you in organizing your research and creating a good flow. In general, you keep to the traditional three-part essay style, but you can adapt it as needed based on the length and criteria of your school. When planning your war paper, consider the following outline:

Introduction

• Definition of war
• Importance of studying wars
• Thesis statement

Body Paragraphs

• Causes of the War
• Political reasons
• Economic reasons
• Social reasons
• Historical reasons
• Major Players in the War
• Countries and their leaders
• Military leaders
• Allies and enemies
• Strategies and Tactics
• Military tactics and techniques
• Strategic planning
• Weapons and technology
• Impact of the War
• On the countries involved
• On civilians and non-combatants
• On the world as a whole
• Summary of the main points
• Final thoughts on the war
• Suggestions for future research

If you found this outline template helpful, you can also use our physics help for further perfecting your academic assignments.

Begin With a Relevant Hook

A hook should be the focal point of the entire essay. A good hook for an essay on war can be an interesting statement, an emotional appeal, a thoughtful question, or a surprising fact or figure. It engages your audience and leaves them hungry for more information.

Follow Your Outline

An outline is the single most important organizational tool for essay writing. It allows the writer to visualize the overall structure of the essay and focus on the flow of information. The specifics of your outline depend on the type of essay you are writing. For example, some should focus on statistics and pure numbers, while others should dedicate more space to abstract arguments.

How to Discuss Tragedy, Loss, and Sentiment

War essays are particularly difficult to write because of the terrible nature of war. The life is destroyed, the loved ones lost, fighting, death, great many massacres and violence overwhelm, and hatred for the evil enemy, amongst other tragedies, make emotions run hot, which is why sensitivity is so important. Depending on the essay's purpose, there are different ways to deal with tragedy and sentiment.

The easiest one is to stick with objective data rather than deal with the personal experiences of those who may have been affected by these events. It can be hard to remain impartial, especially when writing about recent deaths and destruction. But it is your duty as a researcher to do so.

However, it’s not always possible to avoid these issues entirely. When you are forced to tackle them head-on, you should always be considerate and avoid passing swift and sweeping judgment.

Summing Up Your Writing

When you have finished presenting your case, you should finish it off with some sort of lesson it teaches us. Armed conflict is a major part of human nature yet. By analyzing the events that transpired, you should be able to make a compelling argument about the scale of the damage the war caused, as well as how to prevent it in the future.

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Popular War Essay Topics

When choosing a topic for an essay about war, it is best to begin with the most well-known conflicts because they are thoroughly recorded. These can include the Cold War or World War II. You might also choose current wars, such as the Syrian Civil War or the Russia and Ukraine war. Because they occur in the backdrop of your time and place, such occurrences may be simpler to grasp and research.

To help you decide which war to write about, we have compiled some facts about several conflicts that will help you get off to a strong start.

Russia Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin started the Russian invasion in the early hours of February 24 last year. According to him. the Ukrainian government had been committing genocide against Russian-speaking residents in the eastern Ukraine - Donbas region since 2014, calling the onslaught a 'special military operation.'

The Russian president further connected the assault to the NATO transatlantic military alliance commanded by the United States. He said the Russian military was determined to stop NATO from moving farther east and establishing a military presence in Ukraine, a part of the Soviet Union, until its fall in 1991.

All of Russia's justifications have been rejected by Ukraine and its ally Western Countries. Russia asserted its measures were defensive, while Ukraine declared an emergency and enacted martial law. According to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the administration's objective is not only to repel offensives but also to reclaim all Ukrainian land that the Russian Federation has taken, including Crimea.

Both sides of the conflict accuse the other of deploying indiscriminate force, which has resulted in many civilian deaths and displacements. According to current Ukraine news, due to the difficulty of counting the deceased due to ongoing combat, the death toll is likely far higher. In addition, countless Ukrainian refugees were compelled to leave their homeland in search of safety and stability abroad.

Diplomatic talks have been employed to try to end the Ukraine-Russia war. Several rounds of conversations have taken place in various places. However, the conflict is still raging as of April 2023, and there is no sign of a truce.

World War II

World War II raged from 1939 until 1945. Most of the world's superpowers took part in the conflict, fought between two military alliances headed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, and the Axis Powers, led by Germany, Italy, and Japan.

If you'd like to explore it more in-depth, consider using our history essay service for a World War 2 essay pdf sample!

After World War II, a persistent political conflict between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies became known as the Cold War. It's hard to say who was to blame for the cold war essay. American citizens have long harbored concerns about Soviet communism and expressed alarm over Joseph Stalin's brutal control of his own nation. On their side, the Soviets were angry at the Americans for delaying their participation in World War II, which led to the deaths of tens of millions of Russians, and for America's long-standing unwillingness to recognize the USSR as a genuine member of the world community.

Vietnam War

If you're thinking about writing the Vietnam War essay, you should know that it was a protracted military battle that lasted in Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The North Vietnamese communist government fought South Vietnam and its main ally, the United States, in the lengthy, expensive, and contentious Vietnam War. The ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union exacerbated the issue. The Vietnam War claimed the lives of more than 3 million individuals, more than half of whom were Vietnamese civilians.

American Civil War

Consider writing an American Civil War essay where the Confederate States of America, a grouping of eleven southern states that seceded from the Union in 1860 and 1861, and the United States of America battled each other. If you're wondering what caused the civil war, you should know that the long-standing dispute about the legitimacy of slavery is largely responsible for how the war started.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

After over a century, the Israel-Palestine conflict has evolved into one of the most significant and current problems in the Middle East. A war that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people destroyed their homes and gave rise to terrorist organizations that still hold the region hostage. Simply described, it is a conflict between two groups of people for ownership of the same piece of land. One already resided there, while the other was compelled to immigrate to this country owing to rising antisemitism and later settled there. For Israelis and Palestinians alike, as well as for the larger area, the war continues to have substantial political, social, and economic repercussions.

The Syrian Civil War

Pro-democracy protests broke out in southern Deraa in March 2011 due to upheavals against oppressive leaders in neighboring nations. When the Syrian government employed lethal force to quell the unrest, widespread protests calling for the president's resignation broke out.

The country entered a civil war as the violence quickly increased. After hundreds of rebel organizations emerged, the fight quickly expanded beyond a confrontation between Syrians supporting or opposing Mr. Assad. Everyone believes a political solution is necessary, even though it doesn't seem like it will soon.

Russia-Ukraine War Essay Sample

With the Russian-Ukrainian war essay sample provided below from our paper writing experts, you can gain more insight into structuring a flawless paper.

Why is there a war between Russia and Ukraine?

Final Words

To understand our past and the present, we must study conflicts since they are a product of human nature and civilization. Our graduate essay writing service can produce any kind of essay you want, whether it is about World War II, the Cold War, or another conflict. Send us your specifications with your ' write my essay ' request, and let our skilled writers help you wow your professor!

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specializes in creating authoritative content on marketing, business, and finance, with a versatile ability to handle any essay type and dissertations. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a passion for social issues, her writing not only educates but also inspires action. On EssayPro blog, Annie delivers detailed guides and thought-provoking discussions on pressing economic and social topics. When not writing, she’s a guest speaker at various business seminars.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

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An Essay On War

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Home Essay Samples

Essay Samples on War

People always see the subject of war differently, yet it always comes down to the loss, destruction, and the political powers at play. Writing about this topic is never easy unless you are taking a historical approach and explaining the events that have taken place a long time ago. Nevertheless, it’s still challenging to provide reasoning and work with the chronology of specific events. See our war essay examples that address both modern and old-time events that are related to the armed conflicts and the famous battles in American history. Depending on your essay prompt, you should take a closer look at the structure and see how to narrow your ideas down to keep things concise. Check the dates twice and always start with the past by moving towards the future as you offer analysis and explanations. An essay about war shouldn’t be biased as your purpose is to research and explain the facts the way you can, based on evidence. If you are writing a personal or a reflective essay on war, you can provide your thoughts and turn to philosophical aspects of the issue. Check twice with an academic advisor to ensure that you’re on the right track.

The Cold War: A Comprehensive Examination (DBQ)

The Cold War, a geopolitical and ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, left an indelible mark on the 20th century. This essay employs a Document-Based Question (DBQ) approach to delve into the multifaceted aspects of the Cold War, analyzing its origins,...

• International Politics

Ronald Reagan and the Cold War: A Transformational Era

Amidst the intense geopolitical rivalry of the 20th century, ronald reagan cold war emerged as a central figure whose strategic policies and leadership greatly influenced the course of the Cold War. As the 40th President of the United States, Reagan played a pivotal role in...

• Ronald Reagan

NATO, the Cold War, and Civil Rights: Struggles and Achievements

NATO, the Cold War, and civil rights are three interconnected threads that defined the latter half of the 20th century. This essay delves into the complex interplay between these forces, exploring how the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) influenced the global landscape during the Cold...

• Civil Rights

NATO in the Cold War: Unity, Security, and Strategic Alliance

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) emerged as a central pillar of stability and cooperation during the tumultuous era of the Cold War. As a military and political alliance formed in the aftermath of World War II, NATO played a crucial role in shaping the...

The Last Stand of Fox Company during the Korean War

The battle known as the "Last Stand of Fox Company" stands as a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience, and sacrifice displayed by a small group of American Marines during the Korean War. This essay delves into the historical significance of this harrowing battle, examining...

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The Devastating Aftermath: An Analysis of the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

World War II marked a pivotal moment in human history, characterized by unprecedented destruction and loss of life. One of the most controversial events of this era was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities, by the United States in August 1945. This...

• Atomic Bomb

Examining a Complex Tapestry of the Causes of the First World War

The First World War, often referred to as the Great War, was a global conflict that reshaped the course of history. Its origins and causes are complex, involving a web of political, economic, social, and military factors. This essay delves into the multifaceted causes of...

• World War I

Greta Thunberg's Visit to Ukraine: Highlighting the Environmental Damage from War

The ongoing war in Ukraine has caused immense suffering and loss of life, as well as widescale destruction of homes, infrastructure and livelihoods. However, the environmental consequences of the conflict have received relatively little global attention. This changed when Greta Thunberg, the well-known Swedish climate...

• Environmental Issues
• Russia and Ukraine War

JP Morgan and BlackRock Involvement in Ukraine

Ukraine has faced immense challenges since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The country's infrastructure, businesses, and economy have suffered catastrophic damage. As Ukraine looks to rebuild and recover, major financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock have pledged support through investment funds and...

Revealing the Pentagon's Accounting Error: Implications for Ukraine Aid and Ongoing Debates

The Pentagon has revealed that an accounting error led to Ukraine aid being significantly overvalued, with the mistake totaling $6.2 billion across fiscal years 2022 and 2023. This is far higher than the $3 billion accounting error the Pentagon first disclosed in May. According to...

Cluster Munitions in Ukraine: Balancing Military Necessities and Ethical Concerns

The war in Ukraine has raised difficult questions for the United States and its allies about how far to go in supporting Ukraine militarily against the Russian invasion. One of the most controversial decisions was the Biden administration's move in September 2022 to send cluster...

The Perils of Warfare Around Nuclear Reactors: Risks and Concerns of the Situation at Ukraine's Power Plants

The Situation at Ukraine's Nuclear Power Plants Ukraine relies heavily on nuclear energy, with a network of 15 reactors spread across four power plants, supplying over fifty percent of the nation's electrical needs. However, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 has raised...

• Nuclear War

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant: Unveiling the Complexity

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, situated in the southeastern region of Ukraine, stands as an illustrious emblem of European nuclear prowess and global significance. Boasting an impressive array of six nuclear reactors with a staggering total capacity of 6,000 megawatts, this energy behemoth has the...

The Vietnam War: Analysis of Media Representation in America

Introduction “Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America-not on the battlefields of Vietnam” (McLuhan, 1975). The Vietnam War was not the bloodiest or most expensive war, but it left a...

• Impact of Media
• Tet Offensive
• Vietnam War

The Devastating Impact of Atomic Bombs: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Without learning our past, whether that be filled with justice finally being restored or injustice, we must learn it in order to move forward. As Martin Luther King jr. has once said in his book from strength to love, “We are not makers of history;...

• History of Asia

Politicians as the Decision Makers Must Share the Blame

Throughout world war 1, 1914, there were several campaigns fought by the ANZAC’s. The most well-known was the Gallipoli campaign of 1914 fought by the British allies against the Turkish forces. The campaign caused several heavy casualties. Most individuals now days would say that these...

• Politicians
• World History

A Comparative Analysis: Gunpowder and Nuclear Weapons in Military History

Since the establishment of civilizations, man has been interested in inventing simple tools to defend himself, but with the development of lifestyles and the rise of nations. The interest has become greater in developing military methods and developing weapons. In this article I will discuss...

• Nuclear Weapon

Was the Cold War Inevitable: an Unavoidable Taciturn Warfare

There are many questions raised concerning the taciturn confrontation amid U.S.A and U.S.S.R. People still raise concerns about whether the cold war was unavoidable and if so, what the factors that made it inevitable were. The cold war was coined on politically aware, monetary as...

• American History

Who Won the Cold War: Indicators of the US Victory

The Cold War is regarded as the period from 1945 to 1991, although some people would argue that it ended in 1990. The Cold War pitted the US against the Soviet Union due to differing attitudes in politics and military between the superpowers. There has...

Rethinking the Causes of Cold War: Aggression or Misunderstandings

The Cold War, an epic proxy struggle of the 20th century, remains an enigma wrapped in perplexity and burstiness. It emerged from the complex and hostile relations between the newly established superpowers, the US and USSR, which led to the infamous divide between the East...

Iraq Invasion: Reflection on Why the War Went So Badly

We had the opportunity to watch a video on the class of government at South Texas College, the video it’s about one and a half-hour long, so this is a brief summary and making some personal notes about what the video contains and interesting topics...

Unveiling the Complex Factors Behind the Invasion of Iraq

The invasion has also been referred to as the third gulf war. It was undertaken as a military invasion into Iraq in order to end the regime of Saddam Hussien and in the hope to establish democracy in the region. However from the very start...

• United States Army

Analysis of Three Perspectives to Explain the Dynamic of Iraq War

Within this paper we will take a look at the Iraq War from three different perspectives: realism, the theory of Power Transition and constructivism. All of them describe possible causes of this war from different viewpoints.  To start with realism, according to this perspective Bush's...

The Impact of Nazi Germany's Intervention in the Spanish Civil War

If Nazi Germany's intervention in the Spanish Civil War were examined in isolation, one might conclude that it was a tremendous success. In the military sphere, they achieved their principal aim when Franco's Nationalist forces emerged victorious. Additionally, Nazi Germany was able to use the...

• Nazi Germany

The Global War on Terror (GWoT) as the Iraq War Discourse

After the 911 attacks, the US launched a Global War on Terror (GWoT) and this subsequently formed a discourse which had a major role in the Iraq War, particularly the initial phases. The GWoT discourse can be explored through ideas of Orientalism because of the...

• Global Governance

Articles of Confederation: The Effects These Policies Had on the American Government

Introduction The early years of America presented issues of a fragile nation that could easily plunge into retrogression. Various ideologies propagated by the first president shaped the direction to which the current state took. In view of the new nation, the early years rarely receive...

• Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation, Colonization and Slavery as Factors That Formed America

A vast interchanging of crops, animals, disease, metals, and goods between the Old World and New World after Christopher Columbus went to the Americas in 1492. Goods that were transported from the Old World to the New World included livestock, crops, and other items. Some...

• American Colonies

Antonio Luna: Significant Figure of Spanish American War

Antonio Luna who was delineated by the American General James F. Toll himself 'he was the primary general the Filipino furnished power had.' But he and his kin were against savage turmoil. Like Rizal, he and his kin, Juan and Jose believed it was possible...

• Spanish American War

The Issue of Immigration After the Spanish American War

Primary reasons for American intervention in foreign affairs were for foreign trade with other nations and to gain territory in other regions to expand. The “yellow journals” contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War because it pushed America’s involvement further by turning American’s opinion...

The Effect of World War I and the Concept of Anzac Legend

The First and Second World Wars were two of the most significant wars in recent history that profoundly shaped the world as we know it today, bringing with them waves of change in all its participants and many bystanders. Australia was no exception to this,...

The ANZAC Spirit as the Essence of the Soldier in World War I

World War 1, also known as The Great War, began in 1914 and lasted until 1918. It was a global conflict. Described as ‘the war to end all wars’, it caused over 15 million deaths and left many more permanently and severely disabled. The Australian...

The Harmful Impact of Conscription and ANZAC Legend

Conscription also called the draft, is a military action of recruiting and putting up the hand of young, fit men and woman. Conscription hasn’t been in action in Australia for over 45 years. It was abolished in December of 1972 and remaining men in prisons...

The Idea of Anzac Legend Among the Australian Soldiers

Australia’s Anzac history is a vital part of the country’s national identity. On the 25th of April 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on the Gallipoli beach, as they were part of an allied expedition to capture the Gallipoli peninsula and to get the...

The Role of USS Maine in Spanish American War: Clandestine Destruction in Cuban Waters

A “false flag” is defined as being an action or attack through a clandestine identity while implying another nation or group of people as the culprit (False flag, n.d). The 15th of February, 1998 marks the date the famous U.S. Navy battleship called the “USS...

The Articles Of Confederation Vs The Constitution

The Articles of Confederation, the fledgling nation's first constitution, were enacted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. The Articles of Confederation established a system in which the colonies, which are now states, kept the majority of authority. As a result, the central government...

• Comparative Analysis
• Constitution

Who Won The Cold War: United States Or Soviet Union

Following the second World War America experienced a period filled with highs and lows. They went from a golden age as a result of their success in World War II and establishing themselves as the leading world power, to facing one of the most dangerous...

• United States

World War I As An Impetus For The Development Of The World's Armies

Militarism alone didn't begin World War I yet it made a situation where war, instead of arrangement or discretion, was viewed as the most ideal method for settling universal questions. To prove this, this essay will encompass progress made in militarism. To this end, this...

• Treaty of Versailles

"Slaughterhouse-Five": Main Character Analysis

In Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim is not time traveling nor going to an alien planet. Time-traveling and going to an alien planet becomes coping mechanisms through which he can deal with traumatic events that he experiences during his lifetime. Billy is suffering from post-traumatic...

• Mental Illness
• Slaughterhouse Five
• World War II

Hundred Years War And It's Impact On France

Hundred years war has it's significant role in the history of English language and in the development of English language. This war leads to the some uncertain events in the western world. These events changed the shape of politics territory beliefs and religion of west....

• Great Britain
• Hundred Years War
• Middle Ages

The Mexican Drug War: Main Problems

In 2007, the Mexican Drug Cartel controlled 90% of the Cocaine brought to the United States. Cocaine, however, doesn’t come without its close relatives, violence and death. The Mexican War on Drugs is as much a concern to the United States as it is to...

• Drug Trafficking
• Mexican War

Holocaust: Dr. Josef Mengele Biography

 You ask someone, “what is the worst crime in living memory?” And their answers will most likely be “the Holocaust.” How could someone be so cruel and want to kill 6 million Jews? Well, that’s exactly what happened with Dr. Josef Mengele. The first time...

• Josef Mengele

Women In Combat: Inclusion Of Women In The Selective Service

A recent article written by Ruth Ben-Ghiat and published by CNN is shining light on the issue of the Selective Service only requiring men to register. In the modern world of equality the question begs; why exclude women of this mandatory requirement for every American...

• Women in Combat

Road War To The Civil War: Mexican American War And How It Was Justified

Missouri Compromise/ Compromise of 1820 Missouri compromise was passed into law in 1820 and it regulated slavery, although it took place 41 years before the civil war it played a huge role in the civil war. After the Louisiana purchase, Missouri wanted to be admitted...

• Mexican American

Women In Combat: Women In The World War II

By 1943, a couple of years into World War ll, the war recruiting departments were having a hard time finding enough men to send off to war. That began a movement to recruit women into the military. They were going to be allowed to take...

Atomic Bomb: Was The Dropping Of It Justified

The initial stages of World War II was a difficult transition for the US. From an isolationist period, FDR was reluctantly moving the US to confront the “non-democratic” threats of Germany and Japan. Not long, however, did the Pearl Harbor attack instigate the immediate transition...

Japanese Internment Camps And The Unethical Behavior

The United States has a history of unethical behavior that affected several American citizens, these events remind us what came before and how we grew to where we are today. A prime example of this can be shown through the Japanese internment camps. The Japanese...

• Japanese Internment Camps

The Discriminatory Actions Of The Japanese Internment Camps

Racism towards Japanese goes way back to 1877 when white settlers excluded the first Japanese man Manzo Nagano in BC, 65 years before the Japanese Internment during WWII. Not to mention, the Provincial Government of British Columbia passed laws that made it hard for Japanese...

The Horrific Tragedies Of Japanese Internment Camps

In the year 1942, Executive Order 9066 was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and this day denoted the start of the use of Japanese internment camps and denoted the completion of the Japanese populace being seen and viewed as of particular people (Wenger, 2016)....

Comparison And Contrast Of World War I And World War Ii

Have you ever wondered how the allied powers became victorious in World War I and World War II? In 1914 World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne. Austria-Hungary decided to invade Serbia and Germany sided with...

Civil War And Reconstruction: Failure Or Success

The United State had to go through many wars to become the most powerful country in the world like nowadays. At that hard and long history, the Civil War and the Reconstruction were the names of those famous wars that not only every single person...

• Reconstruction Era of The United States

The Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki And Justified Reasoning Behind

The second World War was the largest and bloodiest war in human history, with an estimated 75 million casualties, and it was all brought to a close by the dropping of the atom bombs. By the summer of 1945, the fighting with Germany had already...

The Effect Of Slavery And Westward Expansion On Civil War

A long-argued debate among historians is whether the Civil War was inevitable or not, it can be seen as an 'impending crisis' or a conflict that could’ve been avoided if not for a 'blundering generation' of leaders. By examining the events leading up to the...

• Slavery in The World
• Westward Expansion

Slavery: The Main Cause Of The Civil War

The Civil conflict was fought within the years 1861-1865 over the problem of slavery. In simplistic phrases the number one causes of Civil battle were the variations in reviews approximately the issue of slavery, and politics approximately the identical. Political agendas are rife in conditions...

• American Civil War

Slavery As The Cause Of The Civil War

In the book, The Civil War, it starts off with how the early Americans were mostly farmers and how they believed to be the happiest people in the world, and how slavery became an uprising effort in the south. Thus leading the North and the...

The Context Behind Hiroshima And Nagasaki Bombings Justified

I decided to write about detonation of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Relevance and significance of this topic is certainly present because the problem of applying atomic weapons is now more relevant than ever in our contemporary world. Even since 1940s, a lot of...

Separating Families During The Korean War

In 1953, Korea’s sudden division tore families apart. The absence of viable solutions for reunification means the pain and plight of separated families remain the most emotional legacies of the Korean War (Source 1 & 4). For 66 years, communication services between the Koreas remain...

Role Of Women In The Korean War

Women have always been the backbone to the success in war. Captain Viola McConnell should be recognized for her outstanding contributions to the Korean War. Often women are overlooked for the accomplishments they have done especially in war. Since the beginning of the first war,...

Literature Review Of The "Armies Of Manifest Destiny"

The Mexican American War was a two-year-long war between the United States and Mexico over the land of Texas, New Mexico, and California. This battle took place in Mexico and ended with the United States being victorious. The U.S gained the land as a reward...

• Manifest Destiny

The Goals Of Mexican Revolution

Revolutions are supposed to bring changes, but do you think the Mexican Revolution was truly useful? Civil wars have occurred throughout history, trying to achieve a change, either a positive or a negative. For example, we have the Russian Revolution, where the Bolsheviks, led by...

• Economic Problem

Crucial Event For American History: The Attack On Pearl Harbor

The most tragic events concerning the history of the U.S. are the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, and September 11, 2001. Particularly, the Attack on Pearl Harbor marked the point of no return, when America could not refrain from the intervention in the Second World War....

• Pearl Harbor

What Historical Events Led To The Civil War

In my view, I think that westward expansion was one of the biggest reasons why the American civil war broke out in 1861. The main reason why westward expansion started was that the president of the United States started to buy more land to add...

George Washington In The Revolutionary War

Introduction In this paper you are going to read, you may find some things about George Washington you may never have known. (Like me) Get ready to read about George Washington! Who was George Washington George Washington was a very important man in the late...

• American Revolutionary War
• George Washington

The Atomic Bomb: The Development And Devastation

On October 11, 1939, Alexander Sachs, an economic advisor for Franklin D. Roosevelt, personally delivered the president a letter. Before this, in 1938, a lab in Berlin, Germany had discovered nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is when an atom of radioactive material splits, and there is...

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Breaking The Communication Barrier In The Cold War

Imagine a world where a nuclear war had taken place and much of the United States and modern Russia were annihilated in a fiery holocaust. In this world, the Cold War escalated into a full-on war. Our world came within mere millimeters of this fate...

• Cuban Missile Crisis
• John F. Kennedy

Short Term Effects Of Cuban Missile Crisis

Never has the world been closer to nuclear war as it was 13 days in October 1962. The Soviet Union and the US, both great nations, challenged each other immensely and almost let the rest of the world pay the price. The world held its...

It's All About The Patriots, Not Loyalist In The Postcolonialism

In 1776 we as colonist were faced with the tough decision of what side we were going to take, if the event of a war were to happen. There were three options that we could have taken. The first, was siding with the British, which...

• Thirteen Colonies

The Progression Of Japan's Attack On Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was one of the most devastating attacks on the U.S. in history. It was a complete surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base of Pearl Harbor. I will be talking about what led up to the attack, what transpired during the...

The Significance And Outcomes Of The First Hague Peace Conference

In order to understand and summarise the significance of The First Hague Peace conference, it is imperative to locate it not only within the twentieth-century, but as a derivative of nineteenth-century political events. One segment of World War 1 historians who focused on diplomacy either...

• Disarmament

International Court Of Justice Decisions On Nuclear Arms.

Introduction Summarized Facts In April 2014, legal proceedings were initiated against nine states, India, Pakistan, the U.K., the U.S., France, Russia, China, Israel and North Korea by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) for their alleged disrespect of duties as for the discontinuance of...

• The United Nations

Reasons Why Articles Of Confederation Need To Be Replaced

As all historians and anybody who has studied the brief period between the end of the revolutionary war and the ratification of the constitution, there was total chaos. That chaos can be attributed to the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation were like the...

How New Warfare Technologies Introduced In The Ww1 Changed History

The face of military combat was changed when new technology was invented. Clubs, javelinas, crossbows and swords were once the technology used in combat, but once the Great War began, counties were not messing around with their weapons of choice. Some time ago firing shots...

• Trench Warfare

Fictional Report Assignment: World War Ii As A Burden On Japan

I am Yamashita Kouji, an anti-war resistance fighter in Japan, 1945. Since Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931, I have seen how the militaristic government’s policies have been ruining the country and our society. Hence, to save our beloved homeland, I have been taking part...

• Battle of Midway

Beginning And Development Of Israeli-palestinian Conflict: A Dispute Without A Foreseeable End

Ever since the dawn of time, humans have been starting conflicts. Every war ever started has been a conflict that people still talk about today. There have been so many conflicts that it would be hard to count due to it being a problem globally....

• Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Israeli Palestinian Conflict

The Three Major Historical Developments Of 1914

We learned about World War 1, World War 2, the Cold War, the global south, and global challenges. While learning about these wars and challenges of the south, World War 1, World War 2, and the Cold War really stood out as major historical developments...

• Adolf Hitler

The Factors of the Success of Insurgency Groups: Analysis of Examples

Introduction The motivation behind insurgency groups often stems from experiencing harsh mistreatment, lack of social necessities, repression, discrimination, and violence from the ruling party. These experiences fuel their desire to retaliate against the legitimate government or authoritative power in place. When violence from the perceived...

Taglit-birthright And The Upholding Of The Palestinian Occupation

Over 600,000 Jews from around the world have embarked on the informal educational, all expenses paid, Taglit Birthright trip to Israel. What this paper will draw to question is whether this is simply a free trip. This paper will look at the graphics of Birthright...

How Women In The Nightingale Took The War By Storm Leading To Victory

Throughout the ages women have been pushed aside and seen as people who stay at home, clean all day, too fragile to handle combat but, with Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale it proves all of those statements wrong. Her book shows women who pushed against the...

• The Nightingale

Zachary Taylor: Last Stand Of The Hero Of The Mexican War

The Mexican War was a major power struggle attempting to see who would have the rights to Texas. Texas had gained its independence as a result of war during the years of 1835 and 1836. The United States, as well as other countries were willing...

Questioning Rationality Behind Suicide Bombing

Suicide bombing, probably the most shocking tactic employed by terrorists, is becoming increasingly common around the world. The first suicide bombings having gained significant media attention were carried out by Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist organization in 1983. This led to the misconception that suicide attacks...

• Suicide Bombing
• War on Terror

Analysis Of Alternative Policies To Replace Articles Of Confederation

Abstract Concerning may parcel examination it tends to be seen as that the constitution is material with scriptural start's relating to social and political conviction frameworks. The affirmation of the Article of Confederations in 1781 didn't simply fathom contentious issues, yet also made additional challenges...

• American Government

Articles Of Confederation: Creation And Management Of Early Republic

The Articles of Confederation was the first document that help started the government of the United States. The Articles of Confederation was weak and fragile. It did not have the authority or ability to for example to collect taxes, or police trade but under the...

• American Constitution

Story Summary Of The Nightingale By Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale starts with a nameless woman who was dying and looks in her attic and a memorable box of world war two. she then finds an id of Julia Gervase and her son comes to try to help her down from the attic. she...

• Fascism in World War II

Tinker V. Des Moines: The Tinkers That Broke A Free Speech Barrier

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Propaganda Spread and the Rise of Fascist Groups in Canada During the Great Depression

Imagine living during one of the worst economic depression in history, the Great Depression. For ten years, many found themselves out of work with little job opportunities, had little or no money for necessities such as food and clothing, and are forced to travel in...

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What Can Account for the Strong Relationship Between Israel and the US

The special relationship between the US and Israel can be shown to stem back all the way to Harry Truman's administration. Over the years the relationship has increased in strength with support being highest during President Raegan' tenure. His administration waived loans by giving them...

• International Relations

Why War and Leader Pride Will Become the End of Humanity

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Chronology of the Syrian Civil War and Its Impacts on the Country

Cause and effect of issue Prior to the conflict, many Syrians were complaining about the high unemployment rate, corruption and a lack of political freedom due to President Bashar al-Assad, who rose to power and succeeded his father, Hafez, after his death in 2000. What...

• Syrian Civil War

The Horrifying Reality of War in Ishmael Beah's Novel A Long Way Gone

“A Long Way Gone” written by author Ishmael Beah is a book about a young boy named Ishmael who went through a lot of early teenage trauma because of a war that was happening in his home country. The author wrote this book about his...

• A Long Way Gone

Sierra Leone's Robbed Childhood in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

The war deprives kids of childhood, distorts humanity, and brings despair and fear. People living in a peaceful world can never feel the same about the reality and cruelty of wars. This book tells the reader about the actual miserable situation of Sierra Leone during...

Timeline of the Impactful Events in the History of the U.S. During 17th-19th Centuries

To begin with, the establishment of Jamestown is a significantly important event. Jamestown is the first permanent English colony; therefore, Jamestown, Virginia marks the beginning of U.S. history. It’s remarkable, but it is much more fascinating to know that the culture and way of thinking...

The Reaction to the Westward Expansion and Its Consequences

Westward expansion negatively affected the Indians, not only did it cause more conflicts between Indian nations and the white settlers, it also created conflict between Indian nations and other Indian groups. Once gold was discovered in California, many prospectors migrated to California to gain riches....

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How To Write an Essay on War Writing Prompts

Writing an impressive piece of paper is always a challenging task, but it becomes even harder if you have to address a delicate and controversial topic, such as war. The thing is that wars are usually fought for some higher purpose, and it is not always easy to find the phrases to express your support or disagreement with a certain conflict.

But at our essay writing service , the experience taught us how to approach war-related essays with all due attention and responsibility. This is extremely important for a number of reasons:

• You need to be able to find the right words to express your own opinion on the matter
• Presenting different points of view is a must
• It is mandatory to be respectful of other people's opinions, even if you don't share them
• You need to be able to properly structure your thoughts and present them in a coherent manner
• You must never be lopsided in your argumentation

Now that we got that out of the way, it is time to focus on how to write an essay on war. The good news is that there are a lot of war essay writing prompts you can use to get started. So, if you are looking for some ideas on how to write an essay on war, check out the following topics and writing prompts.

What is War Essay

A war essay is an essay that covers the topics of warfare and military history. It can be either informative or argumentative in nature, depending on what you want to focus on. Additionally, a war essay can also discuss the causes and effects of war, as well as different types of warfare.

However, there are many things that can make writing a war essay difficult.

For one, you need to have a strong understanding of the history and causes of the war you are discussing. You must also be able to effectively communicate your thoughts and ideas in writing. Finally, you will need to ensure that your essay is well-organized and flows smoothly from beginning to end.

Types of Essay You Can Use For War Topic

As we mentioned earlier, there are different types of essays you can use to write about war. But before you pick the right one for your academic paper, it is necessary to understand exactly what each type of essay entails. We will go through the five most common war essay types here:

• An informative essay - An informative essay is an objective piece of writing that covers the basics of a particular topic. When writing an informative war essay, your goal is to educate your reader about the subject matter. You will need to provide accurate and up-to-date information about the topic, as well as present it in a clear and concise manner. The purpose of this essay is to give readers a general overview of the subject matter.
• The cause and effect essay - Cause and effect essays analyze the reasons why a particular event or situation occurred, as well as the resulting effects. When writing a cause and effect war essay, you will need to focus on the causes and effects of a specific conflict. You can discuss the political, social, or economic causes of war, as well as the physical and psychological effects it has on those involved. For example, you could discuss the causes and effects of World War II or the Vietnam War.
• An argumentative essay - Argumentative essays are a type of paper that presents a debatable opinion on a particular issue. When writing an argumentative war essay, you will need to take a stance on a specific aspect of warfare and support your position with evidence. You will need to consider both sides of the issue and present a convincing argument for your point of view. Additionally, you must be able to refute any opposing arguments.
• Comparative essay - A comparative essay is an essay in which you compare and contrast two or more things. This can be done by analyzing similarities and differences between two or more wars or by comparing and contrasting the causes and effects of different wars. When writing a comparative war essay, you will need to consider both the similarities and differences between the topics you are discussing. It is the only way to make a well-balanced comparative essay.
• Persuasive essay - A persuasive essay is an essay that attempts to convince the reader to agree with a particular opinion or point of view. The idea is to write a piece of paper that sounds so credible that no one can dispute it. In such circumstances, it is highly recommended to use rhetorical tricks. Appeals to emotion, authority, and logic are the most common persuasive strategies.

Don't forget that these are just a few of the common types of essays you can use to write about war. There are other essay types that can also be used, such as definition essays, descriptive essays, and process essays. Ultimately, the type of essay you use will depend on your specific topic and what you want to focus on.

War Essay Outline

Let's assume you've chosen to write an informative essay about the causes and effects of World War II. The first step in crafting your essay will be to create an outline. This will help you organize your thoughts and ideas and ensure that your essay flows smoothly from beginning to end.

Here is a basic outline for an informative war essay:

• Introduction . Introduce the topic of your essay and provide background information on the conflict you will be discussing. A given topic stretches over many years, so you should limit your focus to a specific aspect of the war. It can be something like the political causes, the social effects, or the economic consequences.
• Body paragraphs . This is the core of your paper. Each section should focus on a specific cause or effect of the war. The idea is to present your thoughts and support your thesis statement with evidence. For example, if you are discussing the political causes of World War II, your body paragraphs could focus on specific events like the Treaty of Versailles or the rise of Adolf Hitler.
• Conclusion . Remind readers of your thesis statement and summarize the main points of your essay. Discuss the larger implications of the war and how it has affected the world today. You might also want to discuss the lessons that can be learned from the conflict.

How to Write a War Essay: A Short Guide

War is one of the most complex and brutal phenomena in human history. For many people, war is a fascinating subject, full of dramatic stories and lessons about human nature. This short guide offers some tips on how to write a war essay that will engage your reader and offer new insights into this complex subject.

First, it is important to choose a specific focus for your essay. Trying to elaborate on the entire history of the war would be impossible and would likely result in a scattered and superficial paper. It is better to focus on a specific conflict or aspect of war. This will give you the opportunity to go into depth and explore the subject in greater detail.

Once you have picked your focus, you need to do some research. In addition to reading history books, there are many other sources that can provide valuable information for your essay. These include first-hand accounts from participants in the conflict, as well as newspaper articles, government documents, and academic journals.

When you are writing your essay, it is important to maintain a clear and logical structure. Your paper should have a strong introduction that states your thesis, as well as body paragraphs that support your argument with evidence. Remember to back up your statements and claims with specific examples, and conclude your essay with a thought-provoking conclusion.

Finally, keep in mind that war is a controversial topic, and there are many different interpretations of events. When presenting your own view, be respectful of other perspectives and avoid making sweeping statements about right and wrong. By taking these aspects and factors into account, you can write an essay on the war that will offer a fresh perspective on this complex and fascinating subject.

What to Write About in Essay on War

War is an essential topic of discussion and contemplation for many reasons. It is a reality that has shaped our world throughout history and defined the course of nations. It is also a complex subject with a multitude of causes and effects. When writing an essay on war, there are many different angles that you can take.

You could discuss the history of war and its impact on civilization. You could examine the causes of war, such as economic or political interests or religious or ideological differences. You could also explore the personal experiences of soldiers and civilians caught in the midst of conflict.

Whatever direction you choose to take, make sure to back up your arguments with evidence and thoughtful analysis. By doing so, you can create a well-rounded and insightful essay on war.

How To Choose a War Essay Topic

Picking a war essay topic is difficult simply because you have so many ideas to choose from. You can discuss the history of war, the causes of war, and the effects of war, or you can concentrate on a specific conflict. You can also choose to write about a personal experience with war, either your own or that of someone you know. We will help you out by presenting a few interesting ideas.

Essay on War in Ukraine

War in Ukraine is the most recent military conflict in the world - it lasts some 150 days. However, the war already has extreme consequences for the global economy, social life, and political situation. Hundreds of people died, and millions became refugees. So, if you want to write a paper that is more relevant than any other, don't hesitate to write an essay on the war in Ukraine. We can suggest a few interesting aspects of the topic:

• The History Of The Conflict And The Events That Led To It
• How The War Has Affected Ukraine And Its People
• The Power Of Russia: How Long Can It Keep Fighting?
• The Role Of NATO In The Ukrainian War
• The Future Of Ukraine In Light Of The War

Essay About World War 1

World War 1 is one of the most significant events in human history. It began in 1914 and ended in 1918. The war saw two sides: the Allied Powers, which included Britain, France, Russia, and the United States, and the Central Powers, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.

It resulted in the death of several million persons, as well as the downfall of empires. It also set foundations for the new era of global conflict, characterized by the rise of nationalism and the use of modern technology in warfare. If you are interested in writing about World War 1, here are a few potential topics:

• The Causes of World War 1
• The Battle of the Somme: Why Was It So Bloody?
• The Impact of World War 1 on Civilian populations
• Warfare in World War 1: Trench Warfare, Poison Gas, and Tank Battles
• The Treaty of Versailles: What Did It Achieve?

Essay About World War 2

World War 2 was the biggest and most destructive conflict in human history. It began in 1939 and lasted for six years, involving over 30 countries and resulting in the deaths of over 60 million people. The cause of the war was the rise of Nazi Germany and its aggressive expansionist policies.

WW2 resulted in the death of millions of people, as well as the destruction of entire cities, while Holocaust is one of the most tragic events of this war. The war also had a profound impact on the course of world history, leading to the rise of new nations and the fall of others. If you are interested in writing about World War 2, here are a few potential topics:

• The Causes of World War 2
• The Battle of Stalingrad: Why Was It So Important?
• The Holocaust: How Could It Have Happened?
• D-Day: The Turning Point of the War
• The Atomic Bomb: Was It Necessary?
• The Holocaust: The Tragic Fate of European Jewry

Essay About The Vietnam War

This war took place from 1955 to 1975 and is considered one of the most controversial conflicts of the 20th century. This event was a long and costly conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam against the government of South Vietnam and their main ally, the United States.

More than 2.5 million Americans served in Vietnam, and more than 58,000 were killed. The war had a profound impact on the course of world history, as well as on the lives of those who were involved in it. If you are interested in writing about the Vietnam War, here are a few potential topics:

• The History of the Vietnam War
• The Causes of the Vietnam War
• The American Involvement in the War
• How Did the Vietnam War Impact Local Civilians
• The Legacy of the Vietnam War

Civil War Essay

A civil war is a military conflict between different factions within the same country. Civil wars can be caused by political, social, or economic differences, and they often have an unprecedented influence on the course of world history. If you are interested in writing about a civil war, here are a few potential topics:

• The American Civil War
• The Russian Civil War
• The Spanish Civil War
• The Chinese Civil War
• The Lebanese Civil War

Cold War Essay

The Cold War was a period when the world was divided between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The war was characterized by a lack of direct military conflict, as well as by an intense arms race and a series of proxy wars. If you are interested in writing about the Cold War, here are a few potential topics:

• The Causes of the Cold War
• The Cuban Missile Crisis
• The Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The Arms Race: The Danger of Mutual Destruction
• The proxy wars of the Cold War: Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan
• How did the Cold War shape the world we live in today?

All those warfare events and corresponding topics deserve to be elaborated on in separate essays as each of them is very important on its own. That's why you won't make a mistake if you choose any of the topics mentioned above.

It's impossible to find a single person on Earth who understands the phenomenon of war inside out. This is because war is such a complicated, multi-faceted thing. With this in mind, when you're looking for a topic to write about in your war essay, it's important to choose something specific to focus on. This way, you can really delve into the details and offer new insights into this complex subject.

But even if a small topic sounds too intimidating, don't be afraid to give it a try. The writing process is easier than you might expect, while you can always order an essay and get a high-quality paper in record time. So, what are you waiting for? Pick your topic and start writing your war essay today!

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Home — Essay Samples — War

Essays on War

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The Mexican-american War: Causes, Consequences, and Legacy

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The Adam-onís Treaty: a Landmark in U.s.-spanish Relations

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World War 1 Essay | Essay on World War 1 for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

World War 1 Essay: World War 1 was started in July 1914 and officially ended on November 11, 1918. Conflicts emerged among the most powerful forces in the modern world with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany and the Ottoman Empire (and briefly Italy) on one side, and Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States on the other side during the war.

The war took the lives of some 20 million people and the world’s great empires fell. Czarist Russia turned into reinstated as the communist Soviet Union. Imperial Germany turned into reinstated as the Weimar Republic and lost some parts of its territory in the East and West.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on World War 1 for Students and Kids in English

We are providing students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short of 150 words on the topic of World War 1 for reference.

Long Essay on World War 1 Essay 500 Words in English

Long Essay on World War 1 Essay is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

World War 1 started with a European conflict and gradually it developed into a World War. Militarism, nationalism, imperialism, and alliances increased the tensions among the European countries. The first reason, militarism, is known as the trend toward developing military resources, both for national defense and the protection of colonial interests.

Militarism indicated a rise in military disbursement and it extended to military and naval forces. It put more impact on the military men upon the policies of the civilian government. As a solution to problems militarism had a preference for force. This was one of the main reasons for the First World War. The second reason is there were too many alliances that frequently clashed with each other. Every country was pawning to safeguard others, creating intertwining mutual protection schemes.

They made alliances in secret, and they created a lot of mistrust and intuition among the European powers. Their general intuition stopped their diplomats to find a proper solution to many of the crises leading to war. Imperialism was the third reason for the First World War. As some areas of the world were left to colonize, nations were competing for subsisting colonies, and they were looking for enlarging their borders with adjacent countries. The fourth cause was nationalism. Nationalism is frequently insinuated to as identification with one’s own country and support for the country. Nationalism contains a strong recognition of a group of personnel with a political entity.

The support of individuals for their own country can become of one’s nation can become hatred of other nations. These were just some of the basic reasons for the war. Many people think that the instant reason for the war was because of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the successor to Austria-Hungary’s throne. Archduke Ferdinand was fired and murdered due to what was thought to be a political conspiracy. The Austro-Hungarian Empire suddenly doubted Serbian conspiracy in the assassination and looked to frame a response that would both punish Serbia, and make the world respect Austria-Hungary’s prestige and determination.

You can now access more Essay Writing on this topic and many more.

The Great War lasted four years. The war was finally over after four years and it took the lives of many people. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, a cease-fire went into effect for all fighters. Though the war has been finished, the effects, are still seen perceptible in the world today.

In the aftermath of World War 1, the political, cultural, and social order of the world was drastically changed in many places, even outside the areas directly involved in the war. Old nations were removed, new nations were formed, international organizations set up, and many new and old ideas took a stronghold in people’s minds.

As Europe fell in debt from war investment, inflation beset the continent. In addition to this, the buoyancy of previous decades was relinquished and a discouraging, gloomy outlook on life was adopted after people had experienced the ferocity of warfare and the effects of the war were brutal.

Short Essay on World War 1 Essay 150 Words in English

Short Essay on World War 1 Essay is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The War took the lives of approximately 20 million people and put a break in the economic development of several nations. The war happened between two parties consisting of more than one hundred nations. Though all of them did not send armed forces to the battlefield, they were a hoard of commodities and human resources and provided moral support to their companions. It continued for 4 long years from 1914 to 1918. Indian soldiers also took part in World War 1 as a colony of Britain from Africa and West Asia.

India had an aspiration that they might win independence. World War 1 war laid down the economy of the world. It led to food shortage, an outbreak of a pandemic, scarcity of vital items, etc. At the end of 1918, the war came to an end. The Allied Powers won the war. Both parties signed the Peace Treaty called an armistice.

10 Lines on World War 1 Essay in English

1. The First World War was instigated in 1914 by Serbia. 2. The cause of the war was a competition between countries to acquire weapons and build military powers. 3. In 1914, Serbia aroused anger by assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir of Austria-Hungary throne. 4. The Allied Powers, and the Central Powers fought against each other. 5. The Central Powers include countries, such as Germany, Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Turkey. 6. The Allied Powers consisted of Serbia, Russia, The United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, and Belgium. 7. India, as a British colony, supported Britain. 8. The German adopted a militaristic Schlieffen approach. 9. World War 1 was fought from trenches, so it is also called the Trench War. 10. The War ended in 1918 after both allies signed an armistice.

FAQ’s on World War 1 Essay

Question 1. List the names of the two allies of the First World War 1914-1918.

Answer: The Allied Powers and the Central Powers.

Question 2. Who declared the First World War?

Answer: Austria-Hungary.

Question 3. Name the countries of Allied Powers.

Answer: Britain, Japan, France, Italy, Russia, the USA.

Question 4.  Why did the First World War end?

Answer: The First World War ended in November 1918 when both allies signed the Peace Treaty known as an armistice.

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• Carl von Clausewitz

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The most authoritative and feature-rich edition of On War in English

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Carl von Clausewitz’s On War is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work’s first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, political leaders, and intellectuals. First published in 1976 and revised in 1984, Michael Howard and Peter Paret’s Princeton edition of Clausewitz’s classic work has itself achieved classic status and is widely regarded as the best translation and standard edition of On War in English. This feature-rich edition includes an essay by Paret on the genesis of Clausewitz’s book, an essay by Howard on Clausewitz’s influence, and an essay by Bernard Brodie on the continuing relevance of On War . In addition, Brodie provides a lengthy and detailed commentary on and guide to reading On War , and the edition also includes a comprehensive index.

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Article contents

The conduct and consequences of war.

• Alyssa K. Prorok Alyssa K. Prorok Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• , and  Paul K. Huth Paul K. Huth Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.72
• Published in print: 01 March 2010
• Published online: 22 December 2017
• This version: 25 June 2019
• Previous version

The academic study of warfare has expanded considerably over the past 15 years. Whereas research used to focus almost exclusively on the onset of interstate war, more recent scholarship has shifted the focus from wars between states to civil conflict, and from war onset to questions of how combatants wage and terminate war. Questioned as well are the longer-term consequences of warfare for countries and their populations. Scholarship has also shifted away from country-conflict-year units of analysis to micro-level studies that are attentive to individual-level motives and explanations of spatial variation in wartime behavior by civilians and combatants within a country or armed conflict. Today, research focuses on variations in how states and rebel groups wage war, particularly regarding when and how wars expand, whether combatants comply with the laws of war, when and why conflicts terminate, and whether conflicts end with a clear military victory or with a political settlement through negotiations. Recent research also recognizes that strategic behavior continues into the post-conflict period, with important implications for the stability of the post-conflict peace. Finally, the consequences of warfare are wide-ranging and complex, affecting everything from political stability to public health, often long after the fighting stops.

• interstate war
• laws of war
• civilian victimization
• war termination
• war severity
• post-conflict peace

Updated in this version

Updated introduction, subheadings, references, and substantial revision throughout.

Introduction

Over the past 15 years, research by social scientists on the conduct and consequences of war has expanded considerably. Previously, scholarly research had been heavily oriented towards the analysis of the causes of interstate war and its onset. Three simultaneous trends, however, have characterized scholarship on war since the early 2000s. First, studies of the dynamics of civil war have proliferated. Second, war is conceptualized as a series of inter-related stages in which the onset, conduct, and termination of wars as well as post-war relations are analyzed theoretically and empirically in a more integrated fashion. Third, studies have shifted away from country-conflict-year units of analysis to micro-level studies that are sensitive to spatial variation in behavior within a country or conflict.

This article reviews and assesses this body of recent scholarship, which has shifted the focus from war onset to questions of how combatants wage war and what are the longer-term consequences of warfare for countries and their populations. Scholarly research examines the conduct and consequences of both interstate and civil wars.

The analysis is organized into three main sections. It begins with research on how states and rebel groups wage war, with particular attention given to questions regarding war expansion, compliance with the laws of war, and war severity. Section two turns to the literature on war duration, termination, and outcomes. Different explanations are discussed, for when and why wars come to an end; then, the question of how war’s end influences the prospects for a stable post-war peace is considered. In section three, recent scholarship is examined on the consequences of war for post-war trends in political stability and public health. The concluding discussion addresses some of the important contributions associated with recent scholarship on the conduct and consequences of war as well as promising directions for future research.

The Waging of Civil and International Wars

What accounts for the nature of the wars we see? This broad question drives a new research tradition in conflict studies that compliments traditional analyses of war onset by shifting the focus to state behavior during war. This research goes beyond understandings of why states fight one another to engaging questions of why states join ongoing wars, when and why they follow the laws of war, and what explains the severity of wars. Taken together, these questions open the black box of wartime behavior.

Intervention and the Expansion of Interstate Wars

Research on war expansion developed as a natural outgrowth of analyses of war onset: scholars studying why states initiate conflict shifted focus to understand why third parties join ongoing wars. The link between alliances and joining behavior has been central to studies of war expansion, spawning a broad research tradition that focuses on alliances and geography, differences among types of alliances, and the characteristics of alliance members. Siverson and Starr ( 1991 ), for example, find a strong interaction effect between geography and alliances, in that a warring neighbor who is an ally increases the likelihood of a state joining an existing conflict. Leeds, Long, and Mitchell ( 2000 ) also find that the specific content of alliance obligations is critical to understanding when states choose to intervene, and that states uphold the terms of their alliance commitments nearly 75% of the time. Most recently, Vasquez and Rundlett ( 2016 ) found that alliances are essentially a necessary condition for war expansion, highlighting the importance of this factor in explaining joining behavior.

Alliance behavior is also an important topic in the study of democratic wartime behavior. While Choi ( 2004 ) presents findings suggesting that democracies are particularly likely to align with one another, Reiter and Stam ( 2002 ) provide counter-evidence that democracies are willing to align with non-democracies when it serves their strategic interests. Given the tendency to uphold alliance obligations, and empirical evidence showing that war initiators are more successful when their adversary does not receive third-party assistance (Gartner & Siverson, 1996 ), recent theoretical research suggests that states, understanding joining dynamics, might manipulate war aims to reduce the likelihood of outside intervention (Werner, 2000 ).

These studies suggest that war expansion should be understood as the consequence of a decision calculus undertaken by potential joiners. While much of the contemporary literature focuses on alliance behavior, this only indirectly gets at the question of who will join ongoing conflicts. A full explanation of war expansion from this perspective would also require that we explain when states form alliances in the first place. Further, the analyses of Gartner and Siverson ( 1996 ) and of Werner ( 2000 ) suggest that strategic thinking must be the focus of future research on war expansion. Recent research begins to address this issue: DiLorenzo and Rooney ( 2018 ) examine how uncertainty over estimates of third party resolve influence war-making decisions of states, finding that rival states are more likely to initiate conflict when domestic power shifts in potential joiner states (i.e., allies) increase uncertainty over the strength of that alliance commitment. Future research should continue to investigate the links between expectations of third-party behavior and initial war initiation decisions, as this research highlights important selection processes that empirical research has not yet fully explored.

Finally, recent research goes further to connect war initiation and expansion by arguing that commitment problems—one of the key bargaining failures leading to war initiation—also helps explain war expansion. Shirkey ( 2018 ) finds that wars caused by commitment rather than information problems are more likely to expand, as they are generally fought over greater war aims, are more severe, and last longer. These factors generate risks and rewards for intervention that encourage expansion.

The literature on interstate war expansion has made progress in the last decade with much closer attention to modeling strategic calculations by combatants and potential interveners. The result has been a better understanding of the interrelationship between onset and joining behavior and the realization that the timing and the sequence in which sides intervene is critical to war expansion (Joyce, Ghosn, & Bayer, 2014 ).

Expansion of Civil Wars

The analog to studies of war expansion in the interstate context has traditionally been the study of intervention in the civil war context. Research in this field treats the decision to intervene in much the same way as the war expansion literature treats the potential joiner’s decision calculus. That is, intervention is the result of a rational, utility-maximizing decision calculus in which potential interveners consider the costs and benefits of intervention as well as the potential for achieving desired outcomes. Understood in these terms, both domestic and international strategic considerations affect the decision to intervene, with the Cold War geopolitical climate much more conducive to countervailing interventions than the post-Cold War era has been (Regan, 2002a ), and peacekeeping-oriented interventions most likely in states with ethnic, trade, military, or colonial ties to the intervening state (Rost & Greig, 2011 ).

Whether states are most likely to intervene in easy or hard cases is a central question. While Aydin ( 2010 ) showed that states will delay intervention when previous interventions by other states have failed to influence the conflict, Rost and Grieg ( 2011 ) showed that state-based interventions for peacekeeping purposes are most likely in tough cases—long ethnic wars and conflicts that kill and displace large numbers of civilians. Finally, Gent ( 2008 ) shows that the likelihood of success may not affect the intervention decision equally for government and opposition-targeted interventions. He finds that both types of intervention are more likely when governments face stronger rebel groups, thus implying that intervention in support of rebel groups occurs when the likelihood of success is highest, but intervention supporting governments is most likely when states face their most intense challenges.

There are two likely sources of the discrepancies in this literature. First, most analyses have focused exclusively on the intervener’s decision calculus, or the supply side, failing to account for variation in the demand for intervention. Second, there is significant inconsistency in the literature’s treatment of the goals of interveners. Some analyses assume that states intervene to end conflicts, while others don’t make this limiting assumption but still fail to distinguish among interventions for different purposes.

Newer research takes important strides to address these issues. First, Salehyan, Skrede Gleditsch, and Cunningham ( 2011 ) developed a theory of third party support for insurgent groups that explicitly modeled both supply-side and demand-side factors driving the intervention decision. They found that demand is greatest among weak rebel groups, but supply is greatest for strong groups. Second, research by Cunningham ( 2010 ) explicitly measured whether third party states intervene with independent goals, and Stojek and Chacha ( 2015 ) theorized that intervention behavior is driven by economic motivations. Trade ties increase the likelihood of intervention on the side of the government.

Finally, Kathman ( 2010 ) focused on contiguous state interveners in examining motives for intervention. He developed a measure of conflict infection risk that predicts the likelihood of conflict spreading to each contiguous state. Empirically, he finds that, as the risk of contagion increases, so does the probability of intervention by at-risk neighbors. This research develops a convincing mechanism and empirical test to explain a subset of interventions and provides a clear link from intervention research to recent research on civil conflict contagion. While the contagion literature is too broad to review here, mechanisms posited for civil war expansion across borders range from refugee flows (Salehyan & Gleditsch, 2006 ), to ethnic kinship ties (Forsberg, 2014 ), to increased military expenditures in neighboring states (Phillips, 2015 ).

The literature on intervention into civil wars has grown significantly over the past decade as internationalization of civil conflicts has become common and often results in escalatory dynamics that are of deep concern to analysts and policymakers.

Compliance With the Laws of War

Scholars have recently begun studying the conditions under which compliance with the laws of war is most likely and the mechanisms most important in determining compliance. This research shifts the focus toward understanding state behavior during war and the strategic and normative considerations that influence decision-making processes of states. Two key questions drive scholarship in this tradition; first, does international law constrain state behavior, even when the state is threatened by severe conflict, and second, can observed compliance be attributed to ratification status, or is it instead a result of strategic decision making?

Scholars have yet to provide conclusive answers to these questions; while compliance is observed in many circumstances, most scholars attribute observed restraint to factors other than international law. Legro ( 1995 ), for example, found that international agreements had limited impact on Britain and Germany’s use of unrestricted submarine warfare, strategic bombing of civilian targets, and chemical weapons during WWII. In analyses of civilian targeting during interstate war, Downes ( 2006 ) and Valentino, Huth, and Croco ( 2006 ) also found that international law itself has little impact on a state’s propensity for civilian targeting. Downes argued that civilian targeting occurs most often when states are fighting protracted wars of attrition and desire to save lives on their own side, or when they intend to annex enemy territory with potentially hostile civilians. Valentino et al. ( 2006 ) similarly found that the decision to target civilians is driven by strategic considerations and is unconstrained by treaty obligations relating to the laws of war. Finally, Fazal and Greene ( 2015 ) found that observed compliance is explained by identity rather than law; violations are much more common in European vs. non-European dyads than in other types of dyads.

While these analyses suggest that international law has little effect on state behavior and that observed compliance is incidental, Price ( 1997 ) and Morrow ( 2014 ) argued that law does exert some influence on compliance behavior. Price attributed variation in the use of chemical weapons to the terms of international agreements, arguing that complete bans are more effective than partial bans. Morrow ( 2014 ), however, demonstrated that law’s impact varies depending upon issue area, regime characteristics, and adversary identity. Of eight issue areas, he found the worst compliance records on civilian targeting and prisoners of war, which perhaps accounts for the largely negative conclusions drawn by Downes ( 2006 ) and Valentino et al. ( 2006 ). Additionally, Morrow found, unlike Valentino et al., that democratic states are more likely to comply after ratification than before, suggesting that obligations under international law do affect state behavior, at least in democracies. Finally, he demonstrated that compliance increases significantly when an adversary has also ratified a given treaty, arguing this effect is due to reciprocity.

More recent scholarship expands this research, showing that law may affect state behavior through additional mechanisms that previous research had not considered. For example, Kreps and Wallace ( 2016 ) and Wallace ( 2015 ) found that public support for state policies as diverse as drone strikes and torture of prisoners of war are critically influenced by international law. International condemnation of U.S. policies reduces public support most when such condemnation focuses on legal critiques. This suggests that international law influences state behavior in democracies through its effect on public opinion, not through liberal norms of nonviolence. Additionally, Appel and Prorok ( 2018 ) and Jo and Thompson ( 2014 ) showed that external constraints influence states’ compliance behavior. Specifically, Appel and Prorok showed that states target fewer civilians in interstate war when they are embedded in alliance and trade networks dominated by third party states who have ratified international treaties prohibiting the abuse of non-combatants during war. Jo and Thompson showed that states are more likely to grant international observers access to detention centers when they are more reliant upon foreign aid. These findings suggest that international law can influence state behavior indirectly, through pressure exerted by international donors and backers.

Scholarship on compliance with the laws of war in interstate wars has made considerable progress over the past decade. We now know much more about the contingent support of democratic state leaders and publics for compliance with the laws of war. This key finding opens up new areas of research on the strategic efforts of political and military leaders to convince publics of their commitment to international law and whether those strategies are likely to be successful.

Civilian Targeting in Civil War

The mistreatment and deliberate targeting of civilian populations is an active area of research by scholars who study civil wars (Hultman, 2007 ; Humphreys & Weinstein, 2006 ; Kalyvas, 2006 ; Valentino et al., 2004 ; Weinstein, 2007 ; Wickham-Crowley, 1990 ). Most research on this topic treats the use of violence against civilians as a strategic choice; that is, combatants target civilians to induce their compliance, signal resolve, weaken an opponent’s support base, or extract resources from the population. In his seminal work on the topic, Kalyvas ( 2006 ) demonstrated that combatants resort to the use of indiscriminate violence to coerce civilian populations when they lack the information and control necessary to target defectors selectively. Similarly, Valentino ( 2005 ) and Valentino et al. ( 2004 ) found that incumbents are more likely to resort to mass killing of civilians when faced with strong insurgent opponents that they are unable to defeat through more conventional tactics.

More recent analyses have built upon these earlier works, adding levels of complexity to the central theories developed previously and examining new forms of violence that previous studies did not. Balcells ( 2011 ) brought political considerations back in, finding that direct violence is most likely in areas where pre-conflict political power between state and rebel supporters was at parity, while indirect violence is most likely in locations where the adversary’s pre-war political support was highest. Wood ( 2010 ) accounted for the impact of relative strength and adversary strategy, finding that weak rebel groups, lacking the capacity to protect civilian populations, will increase their use of violence in response to state violence, while strong rebel groups display the opposite pattern of behavior. Lyall ( 2010a ) also found conditionalities in the relationship between state behavior and insurgent reactions, demonstrating that government “sweep” operations are much more effective at preventing and delaying insurgent violence when carried out by forces of the same ethnicity as the insurgent group. Finally, Cohen ( 2016 ) advanced research by focusing on wartime sexual violence. She found that rape, like other forms of violence, is used strategically in civil war. Specifically, armed groups use rape as a socialization tactic: groups that recruit through abduction engage in rape at higher rates, to generate loyalty and trust between soldiers.

This large body of research provides many insights into the strategic use of violence against civilians during civil war. However, until recently, little research addressed questions of compliance with legal obligations. With the recent formation of the International Criminal Court, however, states and rebel groups are now subject to legal investigation for failure to comply with basic principles of the laws of war.

Emerging research suggests that the International Criminal Court (ICC) and international law more generally do affect the behavior of civil war combatants. For example, Hillebrecht ( 2016 ) found that ICC actions during the Libyan civil war reduced the level of mass atrocities committed in the conflict, while Jo and Simmons ( 2016 ) found that the ICC reduces civilian targeting by governments and rebel groups that are seeking legitimacy, suggesting international legal institutions can reduce violations of humanitarian law during civil war. These findings should be tempered, however, by recent research suggesting that ICC involvement in civil wars can, under certain conditions, extend ongoing conflicts (Prorok, 2017 ).

Finally, beyond the ICC, Stanton ( 2016 ) and Jo ( 2015 ) both demonstrated that international law constrains civil war actors by establishing standards against which domestic and international constituencies judge the behavior of governments and rebel groups. Particularly when rebels are seeking legitimacy, Jo argues, they are more likely to comply with international legal standards in a variety of areas, from protection of civilian populations to child soldiering. This research suggests that even without direct intervention by the ICC, international law can influence the behavior of governments and rebels engaged in civil war.

While recent research has shown that the laws of war can influence civilian targeting in civil wars, the large loss of civilian life in the Syrian civil war highlights how fragile the commitment to international law can be. It points to important future research questions about when threats of various sanctions by the international community against non-compliance are actually credible and which actors can apply effective coercive pressure.

Losses Suffered in Wars

Recent scholarship has taken up the issue of war severity. Empirical research suggests that the tactics and strategies used by states during war, and the political pressures that compel them to adopt those policies, affect the severity of conflict. Biddle ( 2004 ), for instance, argued that war-fighting strategies influence the magnitude of losses sustained during war, and found that states employing the modern system of force reduce their exposure to lethal firepower, thus limiting losses. Valentino, Huth, and Croco ( 2010 ) examined the reasons behind different strategic choices, arguing that democratic sensitivity to the costs of war pressure democratic leaders to adopt military policies designed to limit fatalities. They found that increasing military capabilities decreases civilian and military fatalities, while reliance on guerrilla or attrition strategies, as well as fighting on or near one’s own territory, increases fatalities. They reported that democracies are significantly more likely to join powerful alliances and less likely to use attrition or guerrilla strategies, or to fight on their own territory.

Speaking to the conventional wisdom that interstate warfare is on the decline, recent research by Fazal ( 2014 ) suggests that modern medical advances mean that, while war has become less fatal, it has not necessarily become less severe. This raises questions about common understandings of broad trends in conflict frequency and severity as well as questions about best practices for measuring conflict severity. Future research should grapple with both of these issues.

Civil war studies have recently begun to focus more on conflict severity as an outcome in need of explanation. Many key explanatory factors in early research mirrored those in interstate war research, making comparison possible. For example, like interstate war, civil war scholarship consistently finds that democracies suffer less severe conflicts than nondemocracies (Heger & Salehyan, 2007 ; Lacina, 2006 ; Lujala, 2009 ). Regarding state military strength, research by Lujala ( 2009 ) demonstrated that relative equality between government and rebel forces leads to the deadliest conflicts, as rebels with the strength to fight back will likely inflict more losses than those without the ability to sustain heavy engagement with government forces. Finally, recent research by Balcells and Kalyvas ( 2014 ) mirrored work on interstate war by focusing on how the military strategies adopted by combatants affect conflict intensity. They found that civil conflicts fought via conventional means tend to be more lethal than irregular or symmetric nonconventional (SNC) wars, as only the former involve direct confrontations with heavy weaponry. While research on conflict severity is still developing, these studies suggest that democracy, military strength, and strategy are consistent predictors of conflict severity, although the mechanisms posited for the effects of these variables sometimes differ between civil and interstate war.

What this research does not provide clear answers on is how battle losses trend throughout the course of conflict, as most factors examined in the above research are static throughout a conflict. As our ability to measure conflict severity at a more micro temporal and spatial level has improved, emerging research is beginning to address these questions. For example, Hultman, Kathman, and Shannon ( 2014 ) find that increasing UN troop presence decreases battlefield deaths by increasing the costs of perpetrating violence. Dasgupta Gawande, and Kapur ( 2017 ) also found reductions in insurgent violence associated with implementation of development programs, though the pacifying effects of such programs are conditional upon local state capacity. Additional research shows that trends in violence in Islamist insurgencies vary predictably, with violence suppressed due to anticipated social disapproval during important Islamic holidays (Reese, Ruby, & Pape, 2017 ). Recent research also suggests local variation in cell-phone coverage affects local levels of insurgent violence, as increasing cell-phone communication improves the state’s ability to gather information and monitor insurgent behavior, thereby reducing insurgent violence (Shapiro & Weidmann, 2015 ). These recent studies represent an important trend in conflict severity research that more carefully examines the dynamics of escalation and de-escalation within given conflicts, both spatially and temporally. We encourage additional research in this vein.

The Duration, Termination, and Outcome of War

What accounts for the duration, termination, and outcomes of interstate and civil wars, and the durability of the peace that follows these conflicts? These questions represent a central focus of contemporary conflict studies, and are closely linked in terms of their explanations. A major innovation in this literature in the past 10 to 15 years has been the extension of the bargaining model of war from its original application in the context of war onset (Blainey, 1973 ; Fearon, 1995 ) to its use in the context of war duration, termination, and outcome.

The turn to bargaining models has placed relative military capabilities and battlefield developments at the center of much of the theoretical literature in this area. This focus, however, has spawned a backlash in recent years, as patterns that contradict the implications of bargaining models are detected and theorized. The bargaining approach and its critiques are discussed in the following sections.

Duration of Wars

Understood within the bargaining framework, war duration is closely linked to factors that influence the relative strength of combatants. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that longer wars occur when opponents of relatively equal strength cannot achieve breakthroughs on the battlefield (Bennett & Stam, 1996 ; Filson & Werner, 2007b ; Slantchev, 2004 ), although this pattern does not hold for wars involving non-state actors where a large asymmetry in power increases war duration (Sullivan, 2008 ).

Additional research suggests, however, that relative military strength may not be the best predictor of war duration. Bennett and Stam ( 1996 ), for example, demonstrated that military strategy has a large impact on war duration, independent of military strength, with attrition and punishment strategies leading to longer wars than maneuver strategies. The type of political objectives sought by a war initiator may also offset the impact of military strength, as war aims that require significant target compliance generally lead to longer wars (Sullivan, 2008 ). Still others argue that domestic political sensitivity to concessions-making increases conflict duration, while domestic cost sensitivity leads to shorter wars (Filson & Werner, 2007a ; Mattes & Morgan, 2004 ). Thus, democracies are expected to fight shorter wars (Filson & Werner, 2007b ), whereas mixed regimes will fight longer wars as they gamble for resurrection in the face of high domestic costs for war losses (Goemans, 2000 ). Research by Lyall ( 2010b ), however, suggests that this relationship is conditional upon conflict type, as he found no relationship between democracy and war duration in the context of counterinsurgency wars.

Biddle ( 2004 ) more directly challenged bargaining models of war duration by comparing the predictive power of models including traditional measures of relative military capabilities to those accounting for combatants’ methods of force employment. Biddle demonstrated that models taking force employment into account generate more accurate predictions of war duration than those assuming an unconditional relationship between military power and war duration. A second important challenge to traditional applications of bargaining models comes from Reiter ( 2009 ). He demonstrated that the argument that decisive battlefield outcomes promote quick termination is conditional upon the absence of commitment problems. When compliance fears dominate information asymmetries, battle losses and the expectation of future losses may not be sufficient to end conflict, as belligerents will continue fighting in pursuit of absolute victory to eliminate the threat of the losing state defecting from post-war settlements. Reiter thus demonstrates that commitment problems and information asymmetries have varying effects on war duration, and both must be accounted for in models of conflict duration and termination.

Despite these critiques, more recent research continues to approach the question of war duration from the bargaining perspective. Shirkey ( 2012 ), for example, argued that late third-party joiners to interstate conflicts lengthen those disputes by complicating the bargaining process. Joiners add new issues to the war and increase uncertainty about relative power among combatants, thus requiring additional fighting to reveal information and find a bargained solution. Weisiger ( 2016 ) similarly focused on information problems, but attempts to unpack the mechanism by focusing on more specific characteristics of battlefield events. Using new data on the timing of battle deaths for specific war participants, Weisiger found that settlement is more likely after more extensive fighting, and that states are more likely to make concessions after their battle results have deteriorated. Finally, recent research has also begun to problematize resolve, considering how variation in actors’ resolve affects their willingness to stay in a fight or cut losses (Kertzer, 2017 ). This represents a fruitful area for future research, as conceptually and empirically unpacking resolve will shed new light on costs of war and how they relate to war onset, duration, and termination.

Scholars studying the duration of civil wars also commonly apply a rationalist perspective. Factors that increase the costs of sustaining the fight generally shorten wars, while those that raise the costs of making concessions tend to lengthen conflicts. Along these lines, research suggests that the availability of contraband funding for rebel groups lengthens conflicts by providing rebels with the economic resources to sustain their campaigns (Fearon, 2004 ). However, additional research demonstrates that the influence of contraband is mitigated by fluctuations in its market value (Collier, Hoeffler, & Söderbom, 2004 ), by how rebels earn funding from resources (through smuggling versus extortion; Conrad, Greene, Igoe Walsh, & Whitaker, 2018 ), and by the composition of state institutions (Wiegand & Keels, 2018 ).

Research suggests that structural conditions also affect civil war duration, such as the stakes of war, ethnic divisions, and the number of combatants involved. For example, ethnic conflicts over control of territory are generally longer than those fought over control of the central government (Balch-Lindsay & Enterline, 2000 ; Collier et al., 2004 ; Fearon, 2004 ). Regarding the role of ethnicity, Wucherpfennig, Metternich, Cederman, and Skrede Gleditsch ( 2012 ) demonstrated that the effect of ethnic cleavages is conditional on their relationship to political institutions. Regarding the complexity of the conflict, Cunningham ( 2011 ) found that civil wars with a greater number of combatants on each side are longer than those with fewer combatants. Findley ( 2013 ), however, showed that the number of conflict actors has varying effects across different stages of conflict, encouraging cooperation early on while impeding lasting settlement.

Third party intervention has also received significant attention in the civil war duration literature, with scholars generally arguing that intervention affects duration by augmenting the military strength of combatants. Empirical findings in early studies are mixed, however; while results consistently show that unbiased intervention or simultaneous intervention on both sides of a conflict increase war duration (Balch-Lindsay & Enterline, 2000 ; Balch-Lindsay, Enterline, & Joyce, 2008 ; Regan, 2002b ), biased interventions generate more inconsistent results.

In a valuable study addressing limitations of earlier research, Cunningham ( 2010 ) focused on the goals of third parties, and found that when interveners pursue agendas that are independent of those of the internal combatants, wars are more difficult to terminate due to decreased incentives to negotiate and a higher likelihood that commitment problems stymie settlements. This suggests that the empirical finding that intervention lengthens war may be driven by a subset of cases in which third parties intervene with specific goals. Ultimately, analyses focused on intervention do not account for the potential selection effect that influences when states will intervene. If Gent ( 2008 ) is correct, biased intervention should be most likely when the power ratio between government and rebel forces is close to parity, a factor which, if ignored, may bias the results of these analyses.

More recent studies have continued to unpack intervention, demonstrating that there are important distinctions beyond the biased versus balanced debate. Sawyer, Cunningham, and Reed ( 2015 ), for example, showed that different types of external support affect rebel fighting capacity differently. Specifically, fungible types of support like financial and arms transfers are particularly likely to lengthen conflict because they increase uncertainty over relative power. Similarly, Narang ( 2015 ) also focused on the uncertainty induced by external support. He showed that humanitarian assistance inadvertently increases both actors’ uncertainty over relative power, thereby prolonging civil war.

Until recently, this literature suffered from a major weakness in that it relied empirically on state-level variables that did not fully capture the dyadic nature of its theoretical propositions. Cunningham, Skrede Gleditsch, and Salehyan ( 2013 ) new dyadic data represents an important contribution to the field, as it explicitly measures the relative strength, mobilization capacity, and fighting capacity of rebel groups and applies a truly dyadic empirical approach. New research in this field should continue to approach questions of war duration and outcome with dyadic data and theory along with more micro-level studies that seek to explain variation in rebel and state fighting across different geographic locations and over time (e.g., Greig, 2015 ).

Ending Wars as a Bargaining Process

Interstate wars rarely end in the complete destruction of the defeated party’s military forces. Instead, new information is revealed through combat operations and negotiating behavior which enables belligerents to converge on a mutually agreeable settlement short of total war. Wittman ( 1979 ) provided the first formal articulation of the bargaining model in the context of war termination. He argued theoretically that war continues until both adversaries believe they can be made better off through settlement. Subsequent analyses have focused on both the battlefield conditions and strategies of negotiations leading states to believe settlement is the better option.

These analyses show that, as a state’s resources are depleted from battle losses, it has incentives to negotiate a settlement more acceptable to its adversary rather than suffer total defeat (Filson & Werner, 2002 ; Smith & Stam, 2004 ). Further, fighting battles reduces uncertainty by revealing information about resolve, military effectiveness, and the true balance of power between adversaries, causing expectations on the likely outcome of the war to converge, and making settlement possible (Wagner, 2000 ). Wartime negotiations provide adversaries with additional information, which Slantchev ( 2011 ) argued makes war termination more likely.

Challenging traditional notions regarding the likelihood of termination in the face of large asymmetries in capabilities, Slantchev ( 2011 ) argued that war termination depends upon states’ abilities to both impose and bear the costs of fighting. If a weaker state can minimize the costs it bears while forcing its adversary to expand its war effort, the benefits of fighting relative to its costs are reduced, and the stronger state may choose termination. The implication of this argument relates closely to Biddle’s ( 2004 ) empirical critique of the bargaining literature, which finds modern methods of force employment can mitigate losses during war, thereby shifting the balance of costs and benefits independent of relative military capabilities. Reiter’s ( 2009 ) critique of bargaining approaches also has implications for war termination. While traditional approaches argue that fighting battles reveals information and increases the likelihood of termination, Reiter suggested that this is only the case if belligerents expect their opponent to comply with the post-war status quo. If commitment problems are severe, information revealed during battles and war-time negotiations will have little effect on termination.

Biddle’s argument that country-year measures of military capabilities are inexact and crude proxies for the concepts advanced in theoretical models is a strong one that should be taken seriously by scholars. We therefore appreciate the contributions of Ramsay ( 2008 ) and Weisiger ( 2016 ), which use more fine-grained battle trend data rather than country-level measures of military capabilities to empirically test the implications of bargaining theories of war termination, and advocate future research adopting this strategy for testing the implications of bargaining theories.

Much of the literature on civil war termination also focuses on how battlefield developments affect the termination of civil wars. Collier et al. ( 2004 ) built on the idea of war as an information revelation mechanism, arguing that the probability of settlement should increase as war duration increases and more information is revealed regarding the relative strength of each side. Others focus on the costs of battle, with research showing that settlements are more likely when the costs of battle are high and the relative payoffs from victory decrease (Walter, 2002 ). Also, a relatively equal balance of power between combatants creates a mutually hurting stalemate, in which neither side can achieve victory, and settlement becomes more likely (Walter, 2002 ).

Empirical results support many of these theoretical predictions. Several scholars show that the longer a civil war lasts, the more likely it is to terminate (Collier et al., 2004 ; Fearon,, 2004 ; Regan, 2002b ), and that the probability of negotiated settlement increases as conflict duration increases (Mason, Weingarten, & Fett, 1999 ). The magnitude of conflict, measured as total war deaths, also correlates positively with the probability of adversaries initiating negotiations (Walter, 2002 ). Finally, Walter ( 2002 ) found that military stalemates significantly increase the likelihood of negotiations as well as the implementation of a ceasefire.

While these results support the theoretical predictions surrounding “hurting stalemates,” Walter’s coding of stalemates does not account for the timing of the stalemate or the number of stalemates that occur throughout the course of conflict. We therefore see great value in more recent research that uses new micro-level data to more closely capture actual battle dynamics and incorporate more information at the conflict and group-level. For example, Hultquist ( 2013 ) used a novel troop strength measure to better capture relative strength between rebel and government forces. He found that relative power parity increases the likelihood of negotiated settlement, while power imbalances extend civil war. Making use of fine-grained data on battle event dates and locations, Greig ( 2015 ) showed that the location, and changes in location over time, of battle events relays information to combatants that, in turn, affects their willingness to negotiate and settle their conflicts. We encourage additional research in this vein moving forward.

Domestic-Level Factors and War Termination

Recent research suggests that domestic political conditions influence war termination. Specifically, domestic political accountability, the domestic audience’s expectations, and cost-sensitivity affect leaders’ decisions to continue fighting versus settling on specific terms (Mattes & Morgan, 2004 ). Along these lines, Goemans ( 2000 ) argued that the postwar fate of leaders influences their choice between terminating and continuing a war. The threat of severe punishment by domestic actors increases the costs of war losses for leaders of semi-repressive regimes, leading them to continue fighting a war they are losing in the hope of achieving victory. Thus, war termination does not follow strictly from battle trends.

Empirically, Goemans ( 2000 ) found that losing mixed regimes suffer significantly more battle deaths than democratic or autocratic losers, and that wars fought against losing mixed regimes last, on average, almost twice as long as those fought against either democratic or autocratic losers. Taken together, these results suggest that mixed regime leaders are likely to sustain rather than terminate a losing war, and more generally, that regime type significantly influences war termination. Croco ( 2015 ) refined Goemans’s work by arguing that the individual responsibility of leaders for involving their country in a war has important effects on war termination patterns, with culpable leaders more likely to fight for victory in order to avoid being punished domestically for poor wartime performance. Croco and Weeks ( 2013 ) refined this logic further, showing that only culpable leaders from democracies and vulnerable nondemocracies face increased punishment risk from war losses. Koch and Sullivan ( 2010 ) provide another take on the relationship between domestic politics and war termination, demonstrating that partisanship significantly affects democratic states’ war termination decisions. Faced with declining approval for military interventions, their results demonstrate, right-leaning governments will continue the fight, while left-leaning executives will be more likely to end their military engagements.

The analog to studying domestic-level factors in interstate conflict would be to examine the effect of internal state and rebel characteristics on civil war termination. Traditionally, civil war studies have focused only on state characteristics, as data on rebel groups’ organization and internal characteristics has been unavailable. Early research argued that state capacity, regime characteristics, and ethnic/religious divisions influenced war termination by influencing the balance of power, accountability of leaders, and stakes of conflict, but empirical results provided mixed support for these theories (e.g., DeRouen & Sobek, 2004 ; Svensson, 2007 ; Walter, 2002 ).

More recent research has made significant strides in understanding how internal characteristics of combatants affect civil conflict termination by using new data to explore how the composition and practices (i.e., leader characteristics, governance, and internal cohesion) of rebel groups influence civil conflict dynamics. This research demonstrates that some of the same leader-accountability mechanisms that affect interstate war termination also influence civil conflict. For example, Prorok ( 2016 ) used novel data on rebel group leaders to show that culpable leaders are less willing to terminate or settle for compromise outcomes than their non-culpable counterparts in civil wars, just like in interstate conflicts. Heger and Jung ( 2017 ) also advanced existing research by using novel data on rebel service provision to civilian populations to explore how good rebel governance affects conflict negotiations. They found that service-providing rebels are more likely to engage in negotiations and to achieve favorable results, arguing that this reflects the lower risk of spoilers from groups with broad support and centralized power structures. Finally, Findley and Rudloff ( 2012 ) examined rebel group fragmentation’s effects on conflict termination and outcomes. Using computational modeling, they find that fragmentation only sometimes increases war duration (on fragmentation, also see Cunningham, 2014 ).

These studies underscore the value of exploring rebel group internal structures and practices in greater detail in future research, as they have an important impact on how, and when, civil wars end.

Victory/Defeat in Wars

Recent scholarship on victory and defeat in war suggests, as in the duration and termination literatures, that domestic politics, strategies of force employment, military mechanization, and war aims mediate the basic relationship between military strength and victory. Empirical results show that strategy choices and methods of force employment have a greater impact on war outcomes than relative military capabilities (Biddle, 2004 ; Stam, 1996 ), that high levels of mechanization within state militaries actually increase the probability of state defeat in counterinsurgency wars (Lyall & Wilson, 2009 ), and that weak states win more often when they employ an opposite-strategy approach in asymmetric conflicts (Arreguin-Toft, 2006 ) or when the stronger party’s war aims require high levels of target compliance (Sullivan, 2007 ). High relative losses and increasing war duration also decrease the likelihood of victory for war initiators, even if prewar capabilities favored the aggressor (Slantchev, 2004 ).

More recent research focuses on counter-insurgent conflicts, using new micro-level data and modeling techniques to address questions of counterinsurgent effectiveness in these complex conflicts. For example, Toft and Zhukov ( 2012 ) evaluated the effectiveness of denial versus punishment strategies, finding that denial (i.e., increasing the costs of expanding insurgent violence) is most effective, while punishment is counterproductive. Relatedly, Weidmann and Salehyan ( 2013 ) used an agent-based model applied to the U.S. surge in Baghdad to understand the mechanisms behind the surge’s success. They found that ethnic homogenization, rather than increased counterinsurgent capacity, best accounts for the surge’s success. Finally, Quackenbush and Murdie ( 2015 ) found that, counter to conventional wisdom, past experiences with counterinsurgency or conventional warfare have little effect on future success in conflict. States are not simply fighting the last war.

An important area of research that has fostered significant debate among scholars focuses on explaining the historical pattern of high rates of victory by democracies in interstate wars. The strongest explanations for the winning record of democracies center on their superior battlefield initiative and leadership, cooperative civil-military relations, and careful selection into wars they have a high probability of winning (Reiter & Stam, 2002 ). Challenging these results both theoretically and empirically, however, Desch ( 2002 ) argues that “democracy hardly matters,” that relative power plays a more important role in explaining victory. This debate essentially comes down to the relative importance of realist-type power variables versus regime type variables in explaining military victory; while scholars such as Lake ( 1992 ) and Reiter and Stam ( 2002 ) argued that regime type matters more, Desch asserted that relative power is the more important determinant of military victory.

Ultimately, we find Desch’s objections to the relevance of democracy to be overstated and his theoretical and empirical justifications to be largely unconvincing. First, Desch’s analysis is biased against Reiter and Stam’s argument because it is limited to dyads that Desch labels “fair fights,” that is, dyads with relatively equal military capabilities. This does not allow Desch to test the selection effect that Reiter and Stam discuss. Second, Desch failed to recognize that many of the realist variables he attributes the greatest explanatory power to are actually influenced by the foreign and military policies adopted by democratic leaders (Valentino et al., 2010 ). Democracy thus has both a direct and an indirect effect on war outcomes, and because Desch ignores the latter, he underestimates democracy’s total impact. Finally, the impacts of power variables may be overstated, as recent research demonstrates that military power’s influence is conditional upon method of force employment and military mechanization (Biddle, 2004 ; Lyall & Wilson, 2009 ).

More recent research examines some of the mechanisms suggested for the unique war-time behavior of democracies, raising some questions about existing mechanisms and suggesting alternatives to explain democratic exceptionalism. For example, Gibler and Miller ( 2013 ) argued that democracies tend to fight short, victorious wars because they have fewer territorial (i.e., high salience) issues over which to fight, rather than because of their leaders’ political accountability. Once controlling for issue salience, they find no relationship between democracy and victory. Similarly, using novel statistical techniques that allow them to account for the latent abilities of states, Renshon and Spirling ( 2015 ) showed that democracy only increases military effectiveness under certain conditions, and is actually counterproductive in others. Finally, new research by Bausch ( 2017 ) using laboratory experiments to test the mechanisms behind democracy and victory suggested that only some of these mechanisms hold up. Specifically, Bausch found that democratic leaders are actually more likely to select into conflict and do not mobilize more resources for war once involved, contrary to the selection and war fighting stories developed by Reiter and Stam ( 2002 ). He did find, however, that democratic leaders are less likely to accept settlement and more likely to fight to decisive victory once conflict is underway, and that democratic leaders are more likely to be punished than autocrats for losing a war. Thus, the debate over the democratic advantage in winning interstate wars continues to progress in productive directions.

Theoretical arguments regarding civil war outcomes focus on state/rebel strength, positing that factors such as natural resource wealth, state military capacity, and third-party assistance influence relative combatant strength and war outcomes. Empirical studies find that increasing state military strength decreases the likelihood of negotiated settlement and increases the probability of government victory (Mason et al., 1999 ). Characteristics of the war itself also affect outcomes, with the probability of negotiated settlement increasing as war duration increases (Mason et al., 1999 ; Walter, 2002 ), and high casualty rates increasing the likelihood of rebel victory (Mason et al., 1999 ).

Debate remains over how third-party interventions affect civil war outcomes. UN intervention decreases the likelihood of victory by either side while increasing the probability of negotiated war terminations (DeRouen & Sobek, 2004 ). This impact is time sensitive, however (Mason et al., 1999 ). Further, the impact of unilateral interventions is less clear. While Regan ( 1996 ) found intervention supporting the government to increase the likelihood of war termination, Gent ( 2008 ) found military intervention in support of rebels to increase their chance of victory but that in support of governments to have no significant impact. More recent research by Sullivan and Karreth ( 2015 ) helps explain this discrepancy. They argued that biased intervention only alters the chances for victory by the supported side if that side’s key deficiency is conventional war-fighting capacity. Empirically, they show that because rebels are generally weaker, military intervention on their behalf increases their chance of victory. For states, however, military intervention only increases their odds of victory if the state is militarily weaker than or at parity with the rebels.

Additional new research by Jones ( 2017 ) also represents an important step forward in understanding the effects of intervention in civil war. By examining both the timing and strategy of intervention, Jones demonstrated that the effects of intervention on conflict outcomes are much more complex than previous research suggests.

Post-War Peace Durability

As with studies on war duration, termination, and outcomes, much of the literature on the stability of post-war peace grows from extensions of the bargaining model of war. For these scholars, recurrence is most likely under conditions that encourage the renegotiation of the terms of settlement, including postwar changes in the balance of power (Werner, 1999 ) and externally forced ceasefires that artificially terminate fighting before both sides agree on the proper allocation of the spoils of war (Werner & Yuen, 2005 ). Building off of commitment problem models, Fortna ( 2004b ) argued that strong peace agreements that enhance monitoring, incorporate punishment for defection, and reward cooperation help sustain peace. Specific measures within agreements, however, affect the durability of peace differently. For example, troop withdrawals and the establishment of demilitarized zones decrease the likelihood of war resumption, while arms control measures have no significant impact (Fortna, 2004b , p. 176).

Postwar intervention is also expected to increase peace duration by ameliorating commitment problems, as peacekeepers act as a physical barrier and reduce security fears, uncertainty, and misperceptions between former adversaries (Fortna, 2004a ). Empirical results support this theoretical prediction, and while the size of the force is not significant, both monitoring and armed forces missions increase the durability of post-war peace (Fortna, 2004a ).

The debate that remains in this literature is whether or not peace agreements can effectively mitigate the influence of relative power variables. Recent research by Lo, Hashimoto, and Reiter ( 2008 ) suggests that they cannot. They demonstrated that cease-fire agreement strength has almost no significant impact on post-war peace duration, while factors encouraging renegotiation receive partial support. While discrepancies in results may be in part attributable to differences in time periods covered, this result essentially confirms Warner and Yuen’s ( 2005 ) finding that externally imposed war termination invites resumption of conflict, regardless of the presence of strong cease-fire agreements.

If, at the end of a civil conflict, each side maintains its ability to wage war, issues of credibility can undermine the peace and cause the conflict to resume. Thus, wars ending in negotiated settlements are more likely to recur than those ending with a decisive victory because both sides have the ability to resume fighting to gain greater concessions and neither can credibly commit to the peace (Licklider,, 1995 ; Walter, 2002 ). More recent research confirms that conflicts ending in military victory are less likely to recur than those ending in settlement (Caplan & Hoeffler, 2017 ; Toft, 2009 ), though Toft suggested that this is particularly true for rebel victories.

This understanding of post-war peace in terms of the bargaining model’s commitment problem has led scholars to examine three primary avenues through which commitment problems might be overcome and peace maintained. First, partition has been advanced as a possible solution to post-war instability. The separation of warring factions is expected to reduce security fears by creating demographically separate, militarily defensible regions (Kaufmann, 1996 ). Empirical evidence generally supports this strategy. Partitions that successfully separate warring ethnic groups significantly reduce the risk of renewed conflict (Johnson, 2008 ), while those that do not achieve demographic separation increase the risk of renewed hostilities (Tir, 2005 ). Further, relative to de facto separation, autonomy arrangements, or maintenance of a unitary state, partition is significantly less likely to lead to war recurrence (Chapman & Roeder, 2007 ).

Second, third-party intervention is expected to play a role in ameliorating the security dilemma arising from commitment problems in post-conflict states (Fearon, 2004 ; Walter, 2002 ). Empirical results confirm that third-party security guarantees are critical to the signing and durability of peace settlements (Walter, 2002 ). Once settlement has been reached, third-party guarantees and international peacekeeping establish punishments for defection (Fortna, 2008 ; Walter, 2002 ), thereby reducing incentives for and increasing costs of renewed conflict. More recent research that employs more fine-grained data on the size and composition of UN peacekeeping forces suggests, however, that this type of third-party guarantee is most effective when it has the military power to enforce the peace. Specifically, Hultman, Kathman, and Shannon ( 2016 ) found that increasing UN troop presence increases peace durability, but the presence of other types of UN monitors has little effect on peace duration. By using more fine-grained data, this study makes an important contribution by allowing us to parse the mechanisms driving the role of third party guarantees in promoting peace.

Third, the incorporation of power-sharing arrangements that guarantee the survival of each side into the postwar settlement is also expected to solve post-civil war commitment problems (Walter, 2002 ). These arrangements allow adversaries to generate costly signals of their resolve to preserve the peace, thus ameliorating security fears (Hartzell & Hoddie, 2007 ). Empirical results indicate that given a negotiated settlement, the agreement’s ability to ameliorate security concerns is positively associated with the preservation of peace. Thus, the more regulation of coercive and political power included in an agreement, and the greater the number of dimensions (political, territorial, military, economic) of power sharing specified, the more likely agreements are to endure (Hartzell & Hoddie, 2007 ).

More recently, scholars have begun to extend this research by focusing more broadly on settlement design. Whereas previous research tended to simply count the number of power-sharing dimensions, newer analyses focus on issues such as the quality of the agreement (Badran, 2014 ) and equality in the terms of settlement (Albin & Druckman, 2012 ). Martin ( 2013 ), for example, found that provisions that share power at the executive level are less effective than those that regulate power at the level of rank-and-file or the public, as elite-level power-sharing is relatively easy for insincere actors to engage in at a relatively low cost. Cammett and Malesky ( 2012 ) found that proportional representation provisions are particularly effective at stabilizing post-conflict peace because of their ability to promote good governance and service provision, while Joshi and Mason ( 2011 ) similarly found that power-sharing provisions that expand the size of the governing coalition result in more stable peace. These analyses suggest that delving further into the design and content of settlement agreements is a positive avenue for future research. Future research should also examine how implementation of peace agreements proceeds, and how the timing and sequencing of implementation affects the durability of peace (e.g., Langer & Brown, 2016 ).

Finally, emerging research on civil war recurrence also shifts focus toward rebel groups and how their composition and integration affect post-conflict peace. For example, new research finds that rebel group fragmentation hastens the recurrence of civil war (Rudloff & Findley, 2016 ), while greater inclusion of former rebels in government improves prospects for post-conflict peace (Call, 2012 ; Marshall & Ishiyama, 2016 ). Emerging research on post-conflict elections also represents an important area for further study, as debate remains over how elections affect conflict recurrence. While some argue that they destabilize the peace (Flores & Nooruddin, 2012 ), others suggest they actually reduce the risk of conflict recurrence (Matanock, 2017 ).

The Longer-Term Consequences of Wars

What are the political, economic, and social consequences of interstate and civil wars, and what explains these postwar conditions? As Rasler and Thompson ( 1992 ) recognized, the consequences of war are often far-reaching and complex. Given this complexity, much of the literature varies significantly in quality and coverage; while post-war political change has received significant attention from political scientists, the social and health-related consequences of war are less well-known.

Post-War Domestic Political Stability and Change

Scholarship on post-war political stability focuses on both regime and leadership change, positing political accountability as a central mechanism in both cases. Interstate war has been theorized to induce internal revolution both indirectly (Skocpol, 1979 ) and directly (Bueno De Mesquita et al., 2003 ; Goemans, 2000 ). Empirical results support the accountability argument, as war losses and increasing costs of war increase the likelihood of post-war leadership turnover (Bueno De Mesquita & Siverson, 1995 ) as well as violent regime overthrow (Bueno De Mesquita, Siverson, & Woller, 1992 ). Related work shows that accountable leaders are also more likely to face foreign-imposed regime change at the hands of war victors (Bueno De Mesquita et al., 2003 ).

A central focus of recent research has been the conditional relationship between war outcomes and regime type. In his seminal study, Goemans, 2000 ) found that leaders of mixed and democratic regimes are more likely to be removed from office as a result of moderate losses in war than are leaders of autocracies. These findings, however, have been challenged by recent scholarship. Colaresi ( 2004 ) finds no difference in leadership turnover rates across all regimes types under conditions of moderate war losses, and Chiozza and Goemans ( 2004 ), employing a different measure of war outcomes and discounting the impact of termination over time, find that defeat in war is most costly for autocratic leaders and has no significant impact on tenure for democratic leaders.

Recently, research in the civil war literature has begun to focus more on post-war democratization, elections, and how groups transition from fighting forces to political parties. Much of the early work in this area focused on the link between war outcomes and the development of democratic institutions in the post-war period, specifically arguing that negotiated settlements facilitate democratization by requiring the inclusion of opposition groups in the decision-making process (Doyle & Sambanis, 2006 ; Gurses & Mason, 2008 ). More recent research, however, challenges this conventional wisdom, showing that the benefits of negotiated settlement are limited to the short-term and that economic factors are better predictors of post-war democratization (Fortna & Huang, 2012 ).

Recognizing that not all negotiated settlements are created equal, scholars have also begun to examine how variation in power-sharing provisions influences democratization. Debate remains on this topic as well, however. While some argue that power-sharing facilitates democratization by generating costly signals that create the stability necessary for democratization (Hoddie & Hartzell, 2005 ), others argue that they undermine democratization by reifying wartime cleavages, incentivizing political parties to seek support only from their own wartime constituencies, and undermining public confidence in governmental institutions (Jung, 2012 ). However, after accounting for non-random selection into power-sharing, Hartzell and Hoddie ( 2015 ) found that the inclusion of multiple power-sharing provisions in peace agreements increases post-civil war democratization. Future research should delve further into this debate, and consider more carefully whether specific types of provisions or institutional designs vary in their ability to promote democracy. Joshi ( 2013 ) represents an important first step in this direction, finding that institutional designs that favor inclusivity (e.g., parliamentary systems and proportional representation) are more successful at producing democracy.

Debate also continues over the effects of international intervention on post-conflict democratization. While some scholars expect intervention to facilitate postwar democratization by mitigating commitment problems and raising the costs of defection (Doyle & Sambanis, 2006 ), others suggest it is used as a tool by interveners to impose amenable, generally non-democratic, institutions in the target country (Bueno De Mesquita & Downs, 2006 ). Doyle and Sambanis ( 2006 ) found multidimensional UN missions incorporating economic reconstruction, institutional reform, and election oversight, to be significantly and positively correlated with the development of postwar democracy. However, Gurses and Mason ( 2008 ) and Fortna and Huang ( 2012 ) challenged this finding, reporting no significant relationship between UN presence and postwar democratization, and Paris ( 2004 ) and Bueno de Mesquita and Downs ( 2006 ) showed that peacebuilding missions and UN interventions actually decrease levels of democracy.

Future research should attempt to reconcile many of these open debates in both the interstate and civil conflict literatures. It should also build upon emerging research on post-conflict elections (Flores & Nooruddin, 2012 ; Matanock, 2017 ) and rebel governance (Huang, 2016 ). Huang’s work on rebel governance, in particular, shows that how rebels interact with civilian populations during conflict has important implications for post-conflict democratization.

Public Health Conditions in the Aftermath of Wars

Social scientists have recently begun to study the consequences of war for the postwar health and well-being of civilian populations. Theoretical arguments developed in this literature generally do not distinguish between interstate and civil war, instead developing mechanisms that apply to both types of conflict. The most direct public health consequence of war, of course, results from the killing and wounding of civilian populations. Scholars argue, however, that more indirect mechanisms cause longer-term public health problems as well. War, for example, is expected to undermine long-term public health by exposing populations to hazardous conditions through the movement of refugees and soldiers as vectors for disease (Ghobarah, Huth, & Russett, 2003 ; Iqbal, 2006 ), damaging health-related facilities and basic infrastructure (Li & Wen, 2005 ; Plümper & Neumayer, 2006 ), and reducing government spending and private investment on public health (Ghobarah et al., 2003 ).

Many empirical analyses, unfortunately, do not directly address the mechanisms outlined above. Overall, findings indicate that both civil and interstate war increase adult mortality in the short and long term (Li & Wen, 2005 ) and decrease health-adjusted life-expectancy in the short term (Iqbal, 2006 ). Conflict severity is also influential; while low-level conflict has no significant effect on mortality rates, severe conflict increases mortality and decreases life-expectancy in the long run (Li & Wen, 2005 ; Hoddie & Smith, 2009 ; Iqbal, 2006 ). Comparing the health impacts of interstate and civil wars, analysts have found interstate conflict to exert a stronger, negative impact on long-term mortality rates than civil war, despite the finding that civil war’s immediate impact is more severe (Li & Wen, 2005 ). Finally, many analysts have found that the negative, long-term effects of war are consistently stronger for women and children (Ghobarah, et al., 2003 ; Plümper & Neumayer ( 2006 ) than for men.

This developing field provides important new insights into the civilian consequences of war, but remains underdeveloped in many respects. First, while some evidence suggests that civil and interstate war might affect public health differently, the mechanisms behind these differences require further elaboration. Research by Hoddie and Smith, represented an important contribution in this respect, as it distinguishes between different conflict strategies, finding that conflicts involving extensive violence against noncombatants have more severe health consequences than those in which most fatalities are combat-related. Second, theoretical models are generally much more developed and sophisticated than the data used to test them. While data availability is limited, efforts should be made to more closely match theory and empirics.

Third, analyses that employ disaggregated measures of health consequences (Ghobarah et al., 2003 ) provided a more thorough understanding of the specific consequences of war and represent an important avenue for additional theoretical and empirical development. Iqbal and Zorn ( 2010 ) thus focus specifically on conflict’s detrimental impact on the transmission of HIV/AIDS, while Iqbal ( 2010 ) examines the impact of conflict on many different health-based metrics, including infant mortality, health-associated life expectancy, fertility rates, and even measles and diphtheria vaccination rates. These studies represent important advances in the literature, which should be explored further in future research to disentangle the potentially complex health effects of civil and interstate conflict.

Finally, recent research has begun to conceptualize health more broadly, accounting for the psychological consequences of wartime violence. Building upon research in psychology, Koos ( 2018 ) finds that exposure to conflict-related sexual violence in Sierra Leone generates resilience: affected households display greater cooperation and altruism than those unaffected by such violence during conflict. Bauer et al. ( 2016 ) similarly find that conflict fosters greater social cohesion and civic engagement in the aftermath of war. This is an important area for future research. As conceptions of conflict-related violence broaden, our conceptualizations of the consequences of violence should also expand to include notions of how conflict affects psychological health, community cohesion, and other less direct indicators of public health.

This final section highlights some of the contributions generated by scholarship on the conduct and consequences of war, as well as some of the gaps that remain to be addressed. First, this body of scholarship usefully compliments the large and more traditional work of military historians who study international wars, as well as the work of contemporary defense analysts who conduct careful policy analyses on relevant issues such as wartime military tactics and strategy as well as weapon system performance. The bargaining model of war has also proven a useful theoretical framework in which to structure and integrate theoretical analyses across different stages in the evolution of war.

Second, a number of studies in this body of work have contributed to the further development and testing of the democratic peace literature by extending the logic of political accountability models from questions of war onset to democratic wartime behavior. New dependent variables, including civilian targeting, imposition of regime change, the waging of war in ways designed to reduce military and civilian losses, and victory versus defeat in war have been analyzed. As a result, a number of new arguments and empirical findings have improved our understanding of how major security policy decisions by democratic leaders are influenced by domestic politics.

Third, this literature has advanced scholarship on international law and institutions by examining questions about compliance with the laws of war and the role played by the UN in terminating wars and maintaining a durable post-war peace. The impact of international law and institutions is much better understood on issues relating to international political economy, human rights, and international environmental governance than it is on international security affairs. As a result, studies of compliance with the laws of war, the design of ceasefire agreements, or international peace-building efforts address major gaps in existing literature.

Fourth, this new body of research has explicitly focused on the consequences of war for civilian populations, a relatively neglected topic in academic research. Research on questions such as the deliberate targeting of civilians during wars and the longer-term health consequences of war begin to address this surprising gap in research. As such, this new literature subjects the study of terrorism to more systematic social science methods and also challenges the common practice of restricting terrorism to non-state actors and groups when, in fact, governments have resorted to terrorist attacks on many occasions in the waging of war.

While this literature has advanced scholarship in many ways, there remain several theoretical and empirical gaps that future research should aim to address, two of which are highlighted here. First, while research on interstate war duration and termination is more theoretically unified than its civil war counterpart, the dominance of the bargaining model in this literature is currently being challenged. Recent research on asymmetric conflict suggests that the basic tenants of the bargaining model may not hold for non-symmetric conflict, while research on force employment and mechanization suggest that traditional power measures exert a conditional impact at best. Additional research is needed to determine the conditions under which bargaining logic applies and its relative importance in explaining wartime behavior and war outcomes.

Second, the accumulation of knowledge on civil war’s conduct and consequences has lagged behind that on interstate war, partially because the civil war literature is younger, and partially because sub-national level data is only now becoming more readily available. While bargaining logic is often applied to civil war, we have little cross-national information on relative capabilities and battle trends, and thus a very limited understanding of the way in which these variables affect civil war duration and outcomes. New micro-level data and studies that are beginning to address these problems represent a promising direction forward for civil conflict research.

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Essay on War

Students are often asked to write an essay on War in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on War

Understanding war.

War is a state of conflict between different nations or groups within a nation. It can involve large-scale fighting, often with the use of weaponry.

Causes of War

War can be caused by various factors such as political disputes, economic issues, territorial conflicts, and religious beliefs.

Impacts of War

War can lead to loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure, and displacement of people. It also has a profound effect on a country’s economy and society.

Preventing War

Peace negotiations, diplomacy, and international laws are tools used to prevent war. Education about the effects of war is also crucial.

250 Words Essay on War

The paradox of war.

War, a term synonymous with devastation, is paradoxically also a catalyst for change and progress. Its destructive nature is undeniable, with millions of lives lost, economies shattered, and societies uprooted. However, beneath this grim facade, war has been instrumental in driving technological advancements, political reforms, and social transformations.

War and Technological Advancements

Historically, wars have accelerated technological development. The urgency of war necessitates innovation, leading to advancements in areas like communication, transportation, and weaponry. For instance, World War II propelled the development of radar, jet engines, and nuclear technology. These inventions, initially designed for destruction, have been repurposed for peaceful uses in our everyday lives.

Political Reforms and Social Transformations

War also precipitates political and social change. It has often been the catalyst for the fall of oppressive regimes and the rise of democratic societies. The American and French revolutions are classic examples of wars triggering significant political transformations. Moreover, war can also instigate social change by challenging traditional norms and roles, such as the shift in gender roles during World War II, which paved the way for women’s liberation.

The Duality of War

In conclusion, war embodies a paradox. Its destructive nature is juxtaposed with its capacity for fostering innovation and change. This duality of war presents a complex, multifaceted perspective that goes beyond the simplistic view of war as solely a destructive force. As we grapple with the implications of war, it is crucial to understand and acknowledge this paradox, to prevent history from repeating itself.

500 Words Essay on War

Introduction.

War, a term that evokes a multitude of emotions and reactions, has been a recurring theme throughout human history. It is a complex phenomenon, often viewed as a necessary evil, a path to peace, or a catalyst for change. This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of war, its causes, impacts, and the quest for alternatives.

The Nature and Causes of War

The impacts of war.

The impacts of war are profound and far-reaching. On the immediate level, there is the devastation of life and property. The physical destruction is often accompanied by psychological trauma, which can persist long after the war has ended. Economically, war can drain national resources, disrupt trade, and hinder development.

On a societal level, war can reshape political structures and societal norms. It can lead to shifts in power dynamics, the rise of new ideologies, or the collapse of old orders. These changes, while sometimes leading to positive reforms, can also result in instability and societal unrest.

The Humanitarian Cost of War

The quest for alternatives.

Given the destructive nature of war, the quest for peaceful alternatives is a pressing concern. Diplomacy, negotiation, and conflict resolution strategies are crucial tools in preventing and resolving conflicts. International institutions and legal frameworks, such as the United Nations and international humanitarian law, play a vital role in promoting peace and mitigating the impacts of war.

However, the effectiveness of these mechanisms is often constrained by power dynamics, political will, and the complexities of international relations. As such, the quest for peace is not merely a matter of devising effective strategies, but also of fostering a global culture of peace and respect for international law.

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Evolution of theories of war

• Liberal analyses
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war , in the popular sense, a conflict between political groups involving hostilities of considerable duration and magnitude. In the usage of social science , certain qualifications are added. Sociologists usually apply the term to such conflicts only if they are initiated and conducted in accordance with socially recognized forms. They treat war as an institution recognized in custom or in law . Military writers usually confine the term to hostilities in which the contending groups are sufficiently equal in power to render the outcome uncertain for a time. Armed conflicts of powerful states with isolated and powerless peoples are usually called pacifications, military expeditions, or explorations; with small states, they are called interventions or reprisals; and with internal groups, rebellions or insurrections . Such incidents, if the resistance is sufficiently strong or protracted, may achieve a magnitude that entitles them to the name “war.”

In all ages war has been an important topic of analysis. In the latter part of the 20th century, in the aftermath of two World Wars and in the shadow of nuclear, biological, and chemical holocaust, more was written on the subject than ever before. Endeavours to understand the nature of war, to formulate some theory of its causes, conduct, and prevention, are of great importance, for theory shapes human expectations and determines human behaviour . The various schools of theorists are generally aware of the profound influence they can exercise upon life, and their writings usually include a strong normative element, for, when accepted by politicians, their ideas can assume the characteristics of self-fulfilling prophecies.

The analysis of war may be divided into several categories. Philosophical, political, economic, technological, legal, sociological, and psychological approaches are frequently distinguished. These distinctions indicate the varying focuses of interest and the different analytical categories employed by the theoretician, but most of the actual theories are mixed because war is an extremely complex social phenomenon that cannot be explained by any single factor or through any single approach.

Reflecting changes in the international system, theories of war have passed through several phases in the course of the past three centuries. After the ending of the wars of religion, about the middle of the 17th century, wars were fought for the interests of individual sovereigns and were limited both in their objectives and in their scope. The art of maneuver became decisive, and analysis of war was couched accordingly in terms of strategies. The situation changed fundamentally with the outbreak of the French Revolution , which increased the size of forces from small professional to large conscript armies and broadened the objectives of war to the ideals of the revolution , ideals that appealed to the masses who were subject to conscription. In the relative order of post-Napoleonic Europe , the mainstream of theory returned to the idea of war as a rational, limited instrument of national policy. This approach was best articulated by the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz in his famous classic On War (1832–37).

World War I , which was “total” in character because it resulted in the mobilization of entire populations and economies for a prolonged period of time, did not fit into the Clausewitzian pattern of limited conflict, and it led to a renewal of other theories. These no longer regarded war as a rational instrument of state policy. The theorists held that war, in its modern, total form, if still conceived as a national state instrument, should be undertaken only if the most vital interests of the state, touching upon its very survival, are concerned. Otherwise, warfare serves broad ideologies and not the more narrowly defined interests of a sovereign or a nation. Like the religious wars of the 17th century, war becomes part of “grand designs,” such as the rising of the proletariat in communist eschatology or the Nazi doctrine of a master race.

Some theoreticians have gone even further, denying war any rational character whatsoever. To them war is a calamity and a social disaster, whether it is afflicted by one nation upon another or conceived of as afflicting humanity as a whole. The idea is not new—in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars it was articulated, for example, by Tolstoy in the concluding chapter of War and Peace (1865–69). In the second half of the 20th century it gained new currency in peace research, a contemporary form of theorizing that combines analysis of the origins of warfare with a strong normative element aiming at its prevention. Peace research concentrates on two areas: the analysis of the international system and the empirical study of the phenomenon of war.

World War II and the subsequent evolution of weapons of mass destruction made the task of understanding the nature of war even more urgent. On the one hand, war had become an intractable social phenomenon, the elimination of which seemed to be an essential precondition for the survival of mankind. On the other hand, the use of war as an instrument of policy was calculated in an unprecedented manner by the nuclear superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union . War also remained a stark but rational instrumentality in certain more limited conflicts, such as those between Israel and the Arab nations. Thinking about war, consequently, became increasingly more differentiated because it had to answer questions related to very different types of conflict.

Clausewitz cogently defines war as a rational instrument of foreign policy: “an act of violence intended to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.” Modern definitions of war, such as “armed conflict between political units,” generally disregard the narrow, legalistic definitions characteristic of the 19th century, which limited the concept to formally declared war between states. Such a definition includes civil wars but at the same time excludes such phenomena as insurrections, banditry, or piracy. Finally, war is generally understood to embrace only armed conflicts on a fairly large scale, usually excluding conflicts in which fewer than 50,000 combatants are involved.

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35 great articles about war, war reporting, m by john sack, blackhawk down by mark bowden, hiroshima by john hersey, the vietnam syndrome by christopher hitchens, the coldest war by kevin fedarko, the chaos company by william langewiesche, an extraordinarily expensive way to fight isis by william langwiesche, how to deal with north korea by mark bowden, war stories, the things they carried by tim o'brien, warfighter by wil s. hylton, the most amazing lie in history by lucas reilly, ghost soldiers by hampton sides, the yankee comandante by david grann, paintballing with hezbollah by mitchell prothero, recruiting for the big parade by terry southern, you have thousands of angels around you by paige williams, the kabul-ki dance by mark bowden, the expendables by william langewiesche, the distant executioner by william langewiesche, the last ace by mark bowden, the professor of war by mark bowden, documentaries, the fog of war, see also..., 60 great articles about politics, 10 great articles about evil, a history of violence by steven pinker, inside monopoly's secret war against the third reich by christian donlan, silent war by michael joseph gross, a farewell to arms by john carlin, who was behind the stuxnet attack by ron rosenbaum, spectrum warfare by brendan koerner, the killer elite by evan wright, war without end by c. j. chivers, how one u.s. soldier blew the whistle on a cold-blooded war crime by william langwiesche, the rip-off in iraq by matt taibbi, the city of broken men by devin friedman, tuesdays with saddam by lisa depaulo, welcome to the green zone by william langewiesche, the ploy by mark bowden, dispatches by michael herr, black hawk down by mark bowden, generation kill by evan wright, the good war by studs terkel.

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Essay on War and Peace

No doubt war is an evil, the greatest catastrophe that befalls human beings. It brings death and destruction, disease and starvation, poverty, and ruin in its wake.

But there are people who consider war as something grand and heroic and regard it as something that brings out the best in men, but this does not alter the fact that war is a terrible, dreadful calamity.

No period in world history has been the devastating effects of war. We have had wars of all types long and short. In view of this it seems futile to talk of permanent and everlasting peace or to make plans for the establishment of eternal peace.

War has indeed been such a marked feature of every age and period that it has come to be regarded As part of the normal life of nations. Machiavelli, the author of the known book, The Prince, defined peace as an interval between two wars Molise, the famous German field marshal declared war to be part of God’s world order.

Poets and prophets have dreamt of a millennium, a utopia in which war will not exist and eternal peace will reign on earth. But these dreams have not been fulfilled. After the Great War of 1914-18, it was thought that there would be no war for a long time to come and an institution called the League of Nations was founded as a safeguard against the outbreak of war.

The League of Nations collapsed completely under the tensions and stresses created by Hitler. The United Nations Organization with all the good work that It has been doing is not proving as effective as was desired.

Large numbers of Wars, the most recent ones being the one in Vietnam, the other between India and Pakistan, or indo-china War, Iran-Iraq war or Arab Israel war, have been fought despite the UN. The fact of the matter is that fighting in a natural instinct in man.

So resort to war becomes necessary in such circumstances. Before the outbreak of World War II, for instance, the spread of Communism in Russia created distrust and suspicion in Europe, democracy was an eyesore to Nazi Germany, British Conservatives were apprehensive of the possibility of Britain going Communist.

A feverish arms race was going on between the hostile nations in anticipation of such an eventuality, and disarmament efforts were proving futile. The Indo-Pakistan war was fought over the Kashmir issue.

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War, Its Definition, History and Aspects Essay

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Introduction

Works cited.

I would like to write about war as a topic and this is because of various reasons. War has been with us for a long time and that is why this is a good topic that can be looked at in relation to the society’s needs. The prospective areas of war are wide and that is why this topic needs a good approach.

As far as narrowing down to this topic is concerned, I will look at all the aspects that revolve around war. I will first of all try to define law since different people have come up with their own arguments. This is because the first step towards understanding something is properly defining it.

In addition, I will also try to explain the history of war because it has been there for a long period of time. In this case, war can be traced back to early human beings meaning that it has been evolving as time goes by. This means that there are various aspects that have been incorporated to the whole aspect of war in relation to changes in technology.

Later on, I will narrow down on the general overview of war because people take different stands and positions on this topic. In this case, we have seen the effects of war in our society and this means that it is something real that can not be disputed.

Moral theories are very important because they help us to understand a given topic well. It should be known that moral theories help us to figure out what is good and what is bad. This means that there are certain actions that are not supposed to be entertained in the society.

Meta-ethics is a very important moral theory because it is widely applicable to this tropic. This is because it seeks to define various aspects like justice and others. As a matter of fact, there are people who do not know what is right and what is wrong as far as this topic is concerned.

In general, the most important moral theory that I will use in analyzing this topic is utilitarianism. This theory can tell us the costs and benefits of war which has been the most notable issue as far as the topic is concerned.

War comes after a given action has been undertaken and this means that it should be justified. As a matter of fact, this will justify the consequences of the action that we have taken.

War hams other people and this is what utilitarianism is all about because we should never benefit ourselves unfairly. This topic interests me because of various things. Every now and then, you will always hear that people are going to war because of various underlying reasons.

This is something that I would like to unearth because the society can not exist on war based on the negative effects that we have seen. As a matter of fact, this topic interests me because there is something that we can do as a society to avoid war.

Countries have violated international law that guides war and this is something that is supposed to be looked at. This means that it will be better if dialogue is enhanced before people can go to war as the last option. All in all, this is a very interesting topic that should be understood by everybody amongst us.

War is a broad aspect because it can be referred to as a conflict that might take different dimensions. In this case, it can be a state of being armed to propagate a conflict that can be either between countries or individual parties.

As far as war is concerned, there can be a lot of aggression or disruption that might be advanced by one party towards the other. War can also be described as a behavioral pattern that has been seen in many people and human beings as a whole.

It should be known that war like tendencies are always exhibited by almost all primates and this might also extend to other species (Wade 14). All in all, war is a very interesting topic because it is wide and thereby involves a lot of issues.

As a matter of fact, there are a lot of issues that need to be understood as far as war is concerned. This is based on the fact that we live in a diverse and unique society that is bound to have a lot of issues that will always need to be sorted out as time goes by.

As far as approaching this topic is concerned, there should be a lot of understanding for long term sustainability. This should be done by looking at all the issues that revolve around war and why people might go to war.

It is quite obvious that individuals, nations or societies can not go to war unless they have been provoked to do so. These are some of the issues that need to be understood because somebody’s rights must be infringed upon before he/she decides to go to war.

On the other hand, we have all experienced the consequences of war and that is why there must be efforts to stop war (Wade 23).

In this case, there is an implication that the society can not co-exist well with war and that is why we should come up with good solutions. This can be proved well from various negotiations that have been seen around the world to stop conflicts.

There are a lot of people who have borne the brunt of war in their societies meaning that they need attention. The society can never coexist well after war and that is why it is always necessary to embark on reconciliation. All these efforts are always aimed at ensuring that people do not go to war again.

In this case, all aspects of war are supposed to be understood by all stakeholders and the society at large. This will enable them to be prepared to deal with any issue that might revolve around war.

As a matter of fact, this is based on various prospective areas of war that people have occasionally misunderstood thereby propagating war in the society (Gat 56). In the long run, specific areas of war should be properly evaluated for long term sustainability by narrowing down on necessities.

It should be known that there are a lot of moral theories that revolve around war and this is something that the society needs to understand.

War can be either be actual or intentional based on what a given party wanted to achieve by engaging in it. This topic interests me a lot because war can be traced to our doorsteps. In this case, it can occur that we have once in our lifetime been engaged in war or led to it.

This does not necessarily mean that we must promote war but people do this without knowledge that they are actually agents of war. There are a lot of aspects that revolve around war because it is broad and this is something that interests me.

The society should be able to define war because fisticuffs that occur between individuals can not be termed and described as war (Gat 45). A gang fight can not be described and defined as war because there are certain aspects and things that can qualify a conflict to be called war.

This therefore mans that there are occasions where some misunderstandings have always been confused as war which might not be the case.

As usual, war will always be a phenomenon that can take a political twist. In this case, a country can not fight with its neighbor if there are no political undertones beneath. In the long run, this ends up as a conflict that occurs between political communities.

A political entity can be defined as a state or any community that seeks to be recognized as a state. There is some frequency by which war can occur but this will always depend on the underlying factors at a given period of time.

Terrorist organizations that have been responsible for war can also be referred to as political communities. This is because they are always composed of people with political reasons and missions that they want to achieve and accomplish (Fry 62).

All this withstanding, any mutual misunderstanding between these political communities should be looked at as signs of war in any way. This means that any conflict that is characterized by arms should be real and actual. In this case, it should not be merely latent because it will not qualify as war.

War can be aimed at ending the domination of one community over the other or better still to ensure that there is equality which has always been the bone of contention. There are various techniques that are used by individuals to advance war and this is called warfare.

In cases where we have war, communities or individuals are never ready to compromise until they attain what they had anticipated (Fry 48). This means that they are never ready for a relationship that will lead to fundamental equality in any way.

As far as all wars are concerned, domination has always been the reason for the community’s actions. In this case, it does imply that almost all wars are borne out of the need for domination. In a broad perspective, there is an individual who will occasionally wish to dominate over the other and this ultimately leads to war.

War is inescapable because we are bound to experience it every now and then as time goes by. This means that war can not in any case be linked to a given political organization because it is bound to be a universal phenomenon no matter how much we try to avoid it. In the long run, the society will always define war because it pays its wages.

War has been taking different dimensions based on various developments that have been seen. This means that there have been advancements as time goes by.

There are a lot of global alliances that have seen different nations align themselves with each other based on shared interests. In this case, war has a long history but technology has been infused in thereby making it more complex (Kelly 81).

As a matter of fact, this has ended up enhancing its destructiveness that was not there in the initial years. There are various motivations that lead people to war and this can only be understood by those who give orders.

Those who undertake war have never understood what they are fighting for because they are always given orders to go to war. As a matter of fact, a state can not go to war without support from its leaders and people. All this will be based on the three universal reasons that have occasionally motivated people to war.

This reasons can be either ideological, economical or for power and pride. There has been an argument that morality can justify the need for war but this is supposed to be well proven. All in all, the strategies and tactics for war have been changing as time goes by depending on technology (Wade 39).

As far as war is concerned, there are a lot of moral theories that are supposed to be understood. For instance, we have economic, Marxist, evolutionary psychology, demographic, behavioral, youth bulge and political science theories. As a matter of fact, all these theories try to explain the rationale behind war and why people, nations, sopcietes or states go to war.

As far as moral theories are concerned, there is always a morality for war. In this case, it is undeniable that war has been and will always be a source of the society’s moral questions. This means that concerns behind war need to be understood and evaluated because this has increased gradually as time goes by.

Due to modernization and globalization, the society does not seem to understand why people should continue going to war. Despite all this positive developments, there are people who are always ready to go to war at the slightest provocation and this should not be entertained.

For instance, there might be an argument that a country should be able to defend itself but this can be done diplomatically (Kelly 60). The justification for war is well elaborated by international law and this should not be violated by any nation or state whatsoever.

International law legitimizes war for defense and this is when a given nation or state has been attacked. This means that a nation can go to war and defend its borders either individually or with support from its allies. On the other hand, there are wars that can be allowed by the United Nations.

In this case, the Security Council can allow a given nation to go to war if there is necessity for it. There are enough laws that have been established to enhance the regulation of war as far as international relations are concerned. The conduct of war is very unique depending on people who are propagating it (Gat 97).

There is some uniformity and agreement that in war, there must be some form of confrontation. This confrontation can be done in various ways either by using weapons and equipments. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of tactics that are employed by individuals to suppress the enemy at all costs.

Individuals who are engaged in war behave in a unique way meaning that their behavior will always vary. There are occasions where troops have been engaged in bad activities in the name of war. For instance, there is a lot of rape and ethnic cleansing that has been reported in different places in the course of war.

The aftermath of war has been disastrous because of such activities. In this case, we are supposed to understand various types of warfare that the world is currently experiencing. We have conventional warfare where a given nation is only concerned with reducing its opponents’ military might (Fry 56).

Such wars have always revolved around chemical and nuclear weapons with an aim of ensuring that a state slows down on such activities. Another example of warfare is nuclear warfare. This is mostly characterized by the use of nuclear weapons that are always dangerous.

Civil war is the most common form of warfare that has been seen in the world today. In this case, the sides that are involved in the conflict are from one nation. These entities or groupings are only forced to go to war to control the nation’s destiny, independence or resources.

Asymmetric warfare can be described as a misunderstanding between two different and distinct populations. As much as these two populations might be having diverse capabilities they might use guerilla tactics to overcome each other (Kelly 74). Chemical warfare is the worst form of war that nations or states can engage themselves in because it has deadly effects.

All this aspects and approaches to war have been seen and manifested in our society in one way or the other and everything possible should be done to avoid such issues. War takes place in our environment and no matter how much we may try to avoid and ignore it, there will always be negative effects.

War is an interesting topic that requires a lot of analysis and understanding because there are many prospective areas.

Effects of war in the society can be seen everywhere and even the soldiers who participate in them are not immune in any way. As a matter of fact, a lot of soldiers have been killed in the course of war for it to be won. Civilians have suffered a lot because of war and this can be manifested from the depopulation that accompanies such activities.

People can not inhabit an area that has a lot of war and this means that they have to move to other places that are secure. Economies have been shattered and destroyed because of war depending on its nature (Fry 82). Nations have to spend money on the purchase of weapons and paying soldiers who go to war. In addition, destruction of economic activities will always accompany such activities and this is not good for prosperity.

As earlier noted, people go to war because of various reasons meaning that there is always bound to be a solution. In this case, there are no impossibilities as long as people commit themselves to find a long lasting solution to a given problem.

This means that events that lead to war are propagated by facts that either side might be having. Nations should not be encouraged to go to war because there is no need to loose life and property on something that can be solved amicably (Wade 47). There are occasions where individuals might come to a stalemate but there should be a ceasefire to end any hostilities that might continue.

Negotiations and dialogue should be encouraged over war based on the realities on the ground. There are occasions where dialogue might not be easy based on a loser and winner scenario but a middle ground can be settled on.

There are occasions where the winner in a given conflict or war might dictate the terms of settlement and engagement but this should not be imposed because it will be encouraging the resurgence of war. War can not be ruled out because the society has a lot of issues that will continually emerge as time goes by.

This means that mutual understanding should be encouraged by all members of the society to avoid any warlike activities. Sport activities have been identified as the best alternative to war because people can not shy away from it (Fry 97).

As a matter of fact, activities that bring people together to engage in positive activities should be encouraged around the world. The society can never coexist well after war and that is why it is always necessary to embark on reconciliation. All these efforts are always aimed at ensuring that people do not go to war again.

Fry, Douglas. The Human Potential for Peace: An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence. London: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

Gat, Azar. War in Human Civilization . London: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.

Kelly, Raymond. Warless Societies and the Origin of War . Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2000. Print.

Wade, Nicholas. Before the Dawn. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.

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Essay on Peace

500 words essay peace.

Peace is the path we take for bringing growth and prosperity to society. If we do not have peace and harmony, achieving political strength, economic stability and cultural growth will be impossible. Moreover, before we transmit the notion of peace to others, it is vital for us to possess peace within. It is not a certain individual’s responsibility to maintain peace but everyone’s duty. Thus, an essay on peace will throw some light on the same topic.

Importance of Peace

History has been proof of the thousands of war which have taken place in all periods at different levels between nations. Thus, we learned that peace played an important role in ending these wars or even preventing some of them.

In fact, if you take a look at all religious scriptures and ceremonies, you will realize that all of them teach peace. They mostly advocate eliminating war and maintaining harmony. In other words, all of them hold out a sacred commitment to peace.

It is after the thousands of destructive wars that humans realized the importance of peace. Earth needs peace in order to survive. This applies to every angle including wars, pollution , natural disasters and more.

When peace and harmony are maintained, things will continue to run smoothly without any delay. Moreover, it can be a saviour for many who do not wish to engage in any disrupting activities or more.

In other words, while war destroys and disrupts, peace builds and strengthens as well as restores. Moreover, peace is personal which helps us achieve security and tranquillity and avoid anxiety and chaos to make our lives better.

How to Maintain Peace

There are many ways in which we can maintain peace at different levels. To begin with humankind, it is essential to maintain equality, security and justice to maintain the political order of any nation.

Further, we must promote the advancement of technology and science which will ultimately benefit all of humankind and maintain the welfare of people. In addition, introducing a global economic system will help eliminate divergence, mistrust and regional imbalance.

It is also essential to encourage ethics that promote ecological prosperity and incorporate solutions to resolve the environmental crisis. This will in turn share success and fulfil the responsibility of individuals to end historical prejudices.

Similarly, we must also adopt a mental and spiritual ideology that embodies a helpful attitude to spread harmony. We must also recognize diversity and integration for expressing emotion to enhance our friendship with everyone from different cultures.

Finally, it must be everyone’s noble mission to promote peace by expressing its contribution to the long-lasting well-being factor of everyone’s lives. Thus, we must all try our level best to maintain peace and harmony.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Peace

To sum it up, peace is essential to control the evils which damage our society. It is obvious that we will keep facing crises on many levels but we can manage them better with the help of peace. Moreover, peace is vital for humankind to survive and strive for a better future.

FAQ of Essay on Peace

Question 1: What is the importance of peace?

Answer 1: Peace is the way that helps us prevent inequity and violence. It is no less than a golden ticket to enter a new and bright future for mankind. Moreover, everyone plays an essential role in this so that everybody can get a more equal and peaceful world.

Question 2: What exactly is peace?

Answer 2: Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in which there is no hostility and violence. In social terms, we use it commonly to refer to a lack of conflict, such as war. Thus, it is freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups.

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Is This Israel’s Forever War?

Natasha Hall grew up in Arlington, Virginia, in the nineteen-eighties. Her mother, who was originally from Jordan, was an accountant at the World Bank; her father, who was a Vietnam War vet and marine biologist, worked at the Environmental Protection Agency. During the summers, they would sometimes visit her mother’s family in Jordan; in 1996, in the wake of the Oslo Accords, they were able to visit the West Bank. Hall, then thirteen, had heard about the territory’s occupation, but she was surprised by the obvious and quotidian restrictions on Palestinians’ lives. She remembers seeing people lined up at checkpoints with their hands on their heads, facing a wall. When the 9/11 attacks took place, she was in her first week of college. From what Hall already knew of the world, she immediately feared what the U.S. would do in response. She decided to study foreign policy. Shortly after graduating, she went to the Middle East and stayed there, on and off, for the next twenty years.

The foreign-policy world in Washington, D.C., is filled with people who have gone abroad and had a formative experience. Hall’s was the long American “war on terror.” In the late two-thousands, she worked for the RAND Corporation on evaluating reconstruction efforts in Iraq. (They were not going well.) In 2012, she took a job in government, travelling all over the world and interviewing refugees who wished to resettle in the U.S. But the process was slow, and, when it came to the conflict that had by then become her greatest area of focus, the Syrian civil war, the United States took so few people. She moved to Istanbul to work with Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, a volunteer organization that helped civilians caught up in Bashar al-Assad’s brutal counter-insurgency campaign. Hall saw people surviving in conditions in which survival seemed impossible. She saw what Western resources and preparation could and could not do. “Every time we would find a way to protect people, they”—the Syrian regime and its Russian backers—“would up the ante,” she told me. Russian fighter jets “were wiping out whole neighborhoods. Even if people had a basement to shelter in, the Syrian government might hit them with chlorine gas, smoking them out.” (Despite multiple reports from the United Nations and other organizations that Assad’s forces repeatedly used chemical weapons in Syria, the regime has denied these accusations.) Humanitarian aid and civilian protection were useless, she concluded, if they were not backed up with other forms of support. “If you drop a bunch of people that just want to save lives into a context where people are trying to do the opposite, structurally speaking, they will manipulate you in every way possible,” she said.

In 2017, in the wake of Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban,” Hall, a year and a half out of her government job interviewing refugees, published an editorial in the Washington Post arguing that whoever wrote the ban didn’t know about the intense vetting process that refugee applicants already had to endure. That month, a declaration signed by Hall, recapping her editorial, was filed as part of a lawsuit brought by refugee groups and individuals of Middle Eastern descent against the Trump Administration. The lawsuit led to a pause on the ban, later lifted by the Supreme Court, which eventually upheld a reworded version.

Hall moved back to D.C. a few years ago, in part because she had had a child and wanted to be closer to her parents, and in part because she wanted to be closer to the policymaking apparatus. She became a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a high-minded security-oriented think tank. She testified before Congress, briefed senior government officials, and wrote papers on Syria, civilian protection, and how to maximize the impact of humanitarian aid.

Hall was on a research trip in Jordan on October 7th of last year, when Hamas militants breached the fence that surrounded Gaza, murdered twelve hundred people, and took more than two hundred back to Gaza as hostages. Hall’s first reaction was horror. Next came bewilderment: How was it possible that Israel was so unprepared? After that, fear. She watched Joe Biden travel to Israel and urge the Israelis to learn from America’s errors after September 11th. “While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes,” he said. Hall worried that Israel would make those same mistakes. “That’s why some of the survivors of the October 7th attack came out to say that they didn’t want Israel to lash out at civilians,” Hall wrote to me. “Because they knew what would happen.”

The 9/11 attacks and the wars that followed fundamentally rearranged the American national-security apparatus, destabilized the Middle East, and left lasting scars on the American body politic. They also showed a generation of policy analysts and regional specialists what the quest for total security could look like. Among them was Annelle Sheline, who, in the fall of 2001, had just started her sophomore year in high school, in North Carolina. Even before anyone knew who had hijacked the planes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center, one of her classmates announced, in fifth period: “We are going to kill those God damn Muslims.” At the time, Sheline later recalled in an essay about that day, she kept quiet. In retrospect, her classmate was right. “We were indeed going to kill a lot of Muslims,” she wrote.

In college, Sheline decided to study media, conflict resolution, and Arabic. She went on to get a Ph.D. in political science with a focus on religious authority in the Middle East, receiving a language fellowship for study in Egypt along the way. The experience, to some extent, was surreal: she was being paid to study the region, year after year, because the U.S. Air Force kept dropping bombs on it. After receiving her Ph.D., she settled in D.C. and worked at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, which tries to present a foreign-policy alternative to American militarism. In early 2023, Sheline was hired by the State Department to work in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (D.R.L.).

Sheline said that she found the department still demoralized from the Trump Administration, and understaffed. Biden’s nominee to lead D.R.L., a longtime human-rights advocate named Sarah Margon, had just withdrawn her nomination; at a confirmation hearing, Margon had been confronted with a tweet she’d written in support of an announcement from Airbnb, in 2018, that it was not going to allow Israeli settlers in the West Bank to list their homes. (Airbnb backed off the policy in the face of several lawsuits. You can now book a stay in the settlement of your choice.) Those who remained in the department were dedicated to their mission. They believed that the United States could play a positive role in the world. Sheline felt, at first, a little “weird”—she was a lot less certain about American beneficence than some of her colleagues—but also inspired. After the Trump years, the country again had a President who seemed to believe that human rights should be a priority.

Sheline had been in government for just six months when the Hamas attacks took place. The killings shocked and dismayed her. With colleagues, she discussed what Israel’s response would likely be. She was encouraged that President Biden had warned Benjamin Netanyahu not to repeat America’s post-9/11 mistakes.

She did not have to wait long to see that Netanyahu had not listened. In the first week of Israel’s Operation Swords of Iron, its Air Force dropped more bombs on Gaza than had been dropped by the U.S. in the most high-intensity month of the campaign against ISIS , back in 2017. Civilians were being killed at an astonishing pace—more than three hundred Gaza residents died a day in the first month of the war, many of them children. In mid-October, a State Department official, Josh Paul , resigned. He had worked in the bureau that oversaw weapons transfers to Israel. In the past, he said, citing the example of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the attention paid to how weapons would be used had been “microscopic.” In this case, however, “there was none of that. It was, ‘Open doors. Go.’ ”

Sheline was impressed by Paul’s resignation, but she had no intention of following suit. For one thing, she was far more junior. For another, she had just arrived in government after a long period of trying to do so. She and her husband had a mortgage and a toddler—a little girl.

Sheline has trouble pinpointing the moment she changed her mind. During the next several months, she watched the State Department work on negotiations for a substantial ceasefire, which never seemed to come to fruition. She watched U.S. planes airdrop food packages into Gaza, Berlin Airlift-style, while its ally Israel endlessly inspected trucks that could have delivered far more food at the crossings into Gaza. She watched the Administration leak, over and over, that the President was very frustrated with Netanyahu. “It’s, like, Well, clearly he’s not,” Sheline said, “because he has a lot of power here.” If Biden were genuinely frustrated, she thought, he could demand that the ceasefire happen and that civilians be granted more access to humanitarian aid. “They’re building this stupid pier instead of just insisting on the trucks getting across the border,” she told me last month.

“Often, inside the State Department, there’s this belief in the process,” Sheline continued. “You know, ‘It’s a slow process. You have to just go through the steps.’ But, really, from what I’ve observed, the only thing that seems to be causing any shift is public pressure. I had done what I could. I had tried to do what small things are available for someone in my position on the inside.” In mid-February, citing the Israeli campaign in Gaza, she told her superiors that she was going to leave, though only after she finished a yearlong commitment to the job, and completed her work on the bureau’s annual human-rights reports. Once that was done, she shut down her personal Web site and wrote an editorial for CNN. “Unable to serve an administration that enables such atrocities,” she wrote, “I have decided to resign from my position at the Department of State.”

The experience was still very raw when we spoke over Zoom a few days later. “I know that I won’t ever probably get to work for the government again, which in D.C. may be tricky,” she said. “It’s hard to even say what a professional impact this may end up having. But, you know, I think about my daughter. I assume that she will learn about this in school. And I just want to be able to let her know that I did what I could on the inside. But then it became clear that that just wasn’t having any impact.”

The U.S. government is a very large bureaucracy. You go there to have some effect on what the government is doing. Your chances of having such an effect are inversely proportional to how much the issue matters at that moment. “I mean, not that I expected one person to shift the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Sheline said, “but I hoped that maybe by being on the inside, and working with others—there are many people inside State who are really trying, working very hard on this issue. But, you know, until the President decides that he wants the U.S. policy to change, it’s not going to change.”

For many people, in Washington and beyond, the American response to the 9/11 attacks settled an old question about the U.S. and its commitment to human rights. Clearly, it seemed to them, the U.S. had no such commitment. It was happy to preach to other people—to Serbs, Russians, Chinese—about human rights. But, when it came under attack, it would do just about anything to wipe out the threat.

Paradoxically, though, it could be argued that the American war on terror redeemed or even reconstituted the human-rights community in the U.S. In the context of that war, American human-rights advocates were no longer primarily criticizing other countries’ human-rights abuses; they were criticizing and trying to mitigate their own. In the past six months of war in Gaza, that community has been very vocal in its criticism of a longtime U.S. ally. Analysts and former government officials, many of them shaped by the American forever wars, have written eloquently about the principles of proportionality and the potential for war-crimes prosecutions not just of Israelis but of their American counterparts. They have demanded that the Biden Administration enforce American legal requirements for weapons provided by the U.S.

When I spoke to Hall last month, she said that she had never seen a war like this one. In Syria or Iraq or Ukraine, civilians could usually flee. In this conflict, Gazans are trapped. Neither Israel nor Egypt will let them in, and they know, from bitter experience, that if they leave, they may not be able to return. Another difference is the state of Gaza before the war. It was already ground down from multiple rounds of destruction and rebuilding, poor governance, and the Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade; some of the buildings that were bombed had been constructed out of concrete from previous buildings that had been bombed. (It does not help matters that, for years, Hamas put scarce resources toward its extensive underground tunnel network.) Then, there is Gaza’s water. In Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area east of Damascus that was besieged by the Assad regime for more than five years—one of the longest sieges in modern history—Hall saw people digging wells in their back yards. In Gaza, this is hazardous. The coastal aquifer is depleted; the water underground is brackish without treatment. This greatly cuts down on the ability of Gazans to survive.

Above all, Hall was seeing an army prosecute a war using indiscriminate means. “Urban warfare is notoriously difficult, but we still have rules,” she said. “There is no military reason to withhold medicine, water, and food to a civilian-populated area—and some of the weapons being used don’t make sense.” Israel was dropping two-thousand-pound bombs (supplied by the U.S.), which have the capacity to kill within a quarter-mile radius; in Gaza, which is just five miles wide in certain places, this was a very large radius. “You don’t use weapons like that in densely populated urban areas, or, rather, shouldn’t,” Hall said. More than thirty thousand Gazans had been killed—more than a third of them reported to be children—and epidemiologists had begun to warn of famine .

For Hall and many other observers, Biden’s failure to intervene was the key factor. Hall thought Biden had made a simple political calculation: that the progressives in his party had nowhere to go. He also had a well-known soft spot for Israel, and believed deeply in its role as an American ally in the Middle East. He may also have been trying to keep Netanyahu close to prevent him from escalating with Hezbollah and Iran. Still, at some level, it was a mystery. “If you ask me what I am puzzled by, it’s not the barbarity of either Hamas or the Israeli government,” Ian Lustick, a political scientist and longtime student of Israeli affairs, told me in late March. “It’s why Biden is so slow on the uptake here.”

On April 1st, two events that had the capacity to alter the war took place. One was an Israeli strike on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, which killed two senior Iranian commanders. The other was the Israeli strike on three World Central Kitchen vehicles that were moving along the coastal road in Gaza, which killed seven aid workers who had just delivered food to a nearby warehouse.

The World Central Kitchen attack seemed to shock the President into action. In a thirty-minute phone call three days later, Biden demanded that Netanyahu start fighting with more deliberate care; that he let significantly more aid into Gaza; and that he agree to a ceasefire that will create conditions for the remaining hostages held by Hamas to be released. A readout of the call was delivered to the media by the National Security Council’s spokesman, John Kirby, who couched Biden’s warning in stern terms. “What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side,” Kirby said. “If we don’t see changes from their side, there will have to be changes from our side.”

But the Biden-Netanyahu phone call also had another topic: the Iranian threat of retaliation for the Israeli strike in Damascus. In the face of this threat, Biden said, the U.S. stood side by side with Israel, and would continue to support it. In more recent days, Biden’s tone has become more forceful. He has said that American intelligence indicates an attack from Iran against Israel could be imminent, and he has urged Iran to change course.

For Lustick, the call signalled a turning point in the conflict in Gaza. Israeli Prime Ministers, he said, almost never ended wars because they wanted to; instead, they did so when their allies, and in particular the United States, forced them to. This had happened in 1982, when Ronald Reagan called Menachem Begin to stop attacks on Lebanon; it happened in 2002, when George W. Bush leaned on Ariel Sharon to end his incursion into the West Bank. “Not a single war has ended because Israel’s war aims were achieved,” Lustick told me. “They always end when the United States says, ‘O.K., now you gotta stop,’—and they do. We say that in different ways, but we always have to say it, and it’s partly because the Israeli government needs it to be said, because otherwise they’d have to admit that they didn’t achieve their war aims.”

In the days after the Biden-Netanyahu phone call, this prediction seemed to be correct: Israel announced that it would soon open the Erez Crossing, in north Gaza, to allow in more humanitarian aid, and that it was pulling troops out of Khan Younis, in the south, signalling a halt, at least for now, of major military ground operations. Netanyahu said that his promised invasion of Rafah—the last city in Gaza more or less left standing, where much of the civilian population, and, the Israeli government claims, many Hamas militants, have taken refuge—would still go forward, and that a date had even been set. But his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, quickly contradicted him, telling his American counterpart that there was as yet no date for the proposed invasion.

Sheline was skeptical of the Israeli response. The bombs were still falling; the long-awaited ceasefire still hadn’t happened. And the humanitarian aid was inadequate. “They say they will open one more crossing, and they let in a hundred more trucks,” she said a few days after the Biden-Netanyahu call. “But at this point, after the World Central Kitchen attack, we have a lot of organizations pulling out because it’s a suicide mission for them. We need so much more now—there’s still nowhere near enough aid.”

Hall was worried about the so-called “day after.” “So you wipe out every Hamas soldier—then what?” she asked. “You just created a whole bunch of orphans and people who are forever traumatized by this without really anything on the other side of it.” Israel would not be able to simply leave the Strip, as it has after previous episodes of what it called “mowing the grass.” “This is very different,” Hall continued. “And I fear that if there isn’t a bigger reconstruction plan on the other end, this will be a festering wound, even more so than it has been, for decades to come.” Hall recently wrote a white paper for the Center for Strategic and International Studies about what she called “the new forever wars”—local conflicts that went on and on because they had become internationalized, as some had during the Cold War, but with more actors. Russia or China or Iran might support one side, the U.S. and Europe the other. Each side kept the other in the fight, while the root causes of the conflict remained unaddressed. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a very long-running example of such a conflict, but now more “kinetic,” more destructive, and more dangerous. And there was no end in sight.

For now, to Hall, the most immediate fear was famine. She had seen starvation in Syria. Once people started dying of hunger, as some have in Gaza, it was already too late. “In my experience, mothers will soon become so malnourished they can’t produce breast milk, they can’t get formula, and then things get really ugly,” she told me. “Society can break down from the inside. People will do anything to feed their kids.” ♦

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How the Discovery Papers on Plutonium Were Finally Published After World War II

In 1946, three physicists discussed via mail whether it was time to publish results that had been withheld during the war..

In one of the back rooms of the APS Long Island editorial office, a small trove of archived documents is collecting dust. Many date back decades and aren’t particularly exciting — old journal copies, APS governance documents, and the like. But occasionally, something interesting crops up.

Recently, I was rooting through these archives, looking for some old journal correspondence, when I came across a folder of letters from the 1940s. The box containing it once sat in the basement of the late Peter Adams, the former APS deputy editor in chief and longtime editor of Physical Review B. Peter cared deeply about the Society and had taken it upon himself to preserve the files.

In the letters, a trio of leading physicists debated when to finally publish secretive research that shaped the creation of nuclear weapons.

During World War II, the editors of Physical Review — fearing that German scientists could use American research to build an atomic bomb — decided to withhold from publication research relevant to the Manhattan Project . It wasn’t until 1946, many months after the end of the war, that the withheld studies were finally published.

The archived letters — from the spring of 1946 — reveal the discussions that took place beforehand.

On March 5, 1946, the longtime editor of Physical Review , John T. Tate Sr., sent a letter to Edward Condon, the director of the Bureau of Standards and the APS president:

I am today forwarding…for publication…a group of Letters to the Editor and articles which had been voluntarily withheld from publication during the war…

In doing this I realize that the appearance of these papers which deal with matters once regarded as classified may result in some publicity and possible criticism in certain quarters. I therefore want to give you as President of the American Physical Society whose servant I am an opportunity to stop the publication if you feel it is unwise.

Tate attached a list of 18 Letters to the Editor (precursors to the Letters of today) and articles on nuclear physics. This included two notable Letters to the Editor with, curiously, the same title — “Radioactive Element 94 from Deuterons on Uranium”— and nearly the same authors — one by Glenn Seaborg, Edwin McMillan, Joseph Kennedy, and Arthur Wahl (Phys. Rev. 69, 366) and one by Seaborg, Wahl, and Kennedy (Phys. Rev. 69, 367).

The first paper, submitted to Physical Review in January 1941, reported results on the “bombardment of uranium with deuterons,” which turned uranium into neptunium. Some of this neptunium decayed into what the scientists suspected could be a new “element 94,” later named plutonium — a finding the authors confirmed in the second paper, submitted in March. Seaborg and McMillan shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work.

Three weeks later, on March 26, Condon responded to Tate:

…I fully concur in your judgment that further delay serves no useful purpose, and would do actual harm in interfering with research progress unnecessarily. However, the atmosphere has been so charged with spy scare hysteria that I think we want to be in the position of having checked every possible way…

Condon suggested that Tate contact Richard Tolman, who had just stepped down as the chairman of the Committee on Declassification for the Manhattan Project. Tate obliged: On March 29, Tate sent Tolman a letter asking for his thoughts “on the propriety of publishing” the papers. Tate added:

The authors of these papers have all been consulted recently and are in favor of publishing them... Since Dr. Condon’s letter was delayed three weeks, I am afraid that it will be a little late to stop publication of the Letters to the Editor. My judgment is there is nothing in them which is not already indicated…in the Smyth report…

The Smyth Report, published just days after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, outlined the Manhattan Project and discussed plutonium in some detail.

Six days later, on April 4, Tolman sent Tate a long reply:

It seems clear to me that such an article is the property of the author and that neither he, nor the Editor of the Physical Review, is under any legal obligation to consult with anyone as to its publication…

On the other hand, from the point of view of what is prudent and in the best interests of the country, it seems to me that additional factors enter. In the first place, there is the possibility that the article might disclose something in contradiction to the provisions of the general Espionage Act…

Hence as a prudent man, I should seek competent advice as editor before publishing…

…it is my guess that most if not all of the material involved would fall in the category which is now being declassified, in the case of Manhattan District reports. It would not surprise me, however, if there were a few items in them which should be eliminated before publication, in the interests of national security…

Tolman recommended that Tate consult with John R. Ruhoff, who was leading Manhattan Project declassification efforts.

Tolman also included two attachments. The first was a letter that Tolman had sent to author George Placzek with a similar message — essentially, you are not required to consult Ruhoff, but it would be prudent.

The second attachment was a five-page document dated Feb. 4, 1946, titled, in all caps, “STATEMENT OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF RELEASE OF ATOM BOMB PROJECT INFORMATION,” signed by Robert Bacher, Arthur Compton, Ernest Lawrence, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Frank Spedding, Harold Urey, and Richard Tolman (quite an author list and document to hold).

The statement is a request to publish research that was withheld during World War II — a plea for transparency. “The army wishes to modify the existing secrecy restrictions which were necessitated by the War, and desires to make useful scientific and technical information generally available, where this can be done without endangering our national security,” it reads.

The document does not advocate for the release of specific information but notes that “nearly everyone will agree that there is much that can be disclosed at the present time.”

Tolman’s letter to Tate was stamped “Received” at Physical Review on April 8. Journals were typically printed some time after the beginning of the month, so Tate may have waited for Tolman’s reply before the volume was printed. There is no further correspondence in the folder.

As an editor, I know that one must make important decisions with incomplete information. It is possible that Tate, as editor, called Ruhoff — or he may have been confident in his own assessment.

Regardless of how and when Tate made the final decision to let the issue proceed, many of the papers, including those outlining the discovery of plutonium, were published in the April 1946 issue of Physical Review .

These letters highlight Physical Review ’s role not only as a journal, but as a strategic mediator of research with profound relevance for the war. The letters make clear, too, the extent to which leading physicists wrestled — with themselves and with one another — over the role and timing of scholarly publishing, and of the tension between open science and national security that World War II laid bare.

Robert Garisto

Robert Garisto is the chief editor of Physical Review Letters.

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