COULD war ever become history? Even asking that question seems like starry-eyed idealism, yet this is to misunderstand the nature of warfare. The urge to wage war is not a fixed aspect of human nature but actually a rational response to certain environmental conditions, based on a cost-benefit analysis (see “The end of war”).
Over the past century the balance of that equation has shifted. Technological and social change – not least the spread of democracy and education – have made wars between nation states increasingly irrational. Warfare is on the wane worldwide; modern conflicts are largely insurgencies, terrorism…
