Mankind has known wars as far back as historical memory can take us, and this is unlikely to change in the future. But the preponderant nature of war has been changing over the past half century, from international wars between states to civil wars within states. There has been no open warfare among major powers since World War II, perhaps the longest period of such ‘peace’ since the emergence of modern states in the 17th century, although warfare on a smaller scale between some nations continues infrequently. There are many plausible reasons for this development, e.g. such as technological changes and the declining importance of agriculture (territory) for wealth creation. In short, the perception has grown that the real costs of war have risen while the potential benefits have declined, although one should not make the mistake of assuming that armed conflict between nuclear-armed states is universally understood to be suicidal. With regard to war, what matters today is not so much the absence of genuine world government (an impossibility given the lack of commonality of values in the world), but rather the presence of conditions promoting civil wars in perhaps half of the world’s countries. It is often claimed that we live in a world of international anarchy and domestic order. But, in reality, the reverse is true. We have an international order (of sorts) and domestic anarchy in numerous countries.
