Essay on Perception And War : War

Perception and War War is a difficult subject to think about. Images of it are hard to look at and described as gruesome or gory. It seems strange that disagreements between countries are solved by sending people from each state involved in the dispute to fight each other and “die for their country.” Huge amounts of money have been spent to find new and better ways to kill people – maybe a single person, as is often the aim of an unmanned drone strike, or a large number of people, with more deadly bombs. Yet, specifically because it claims so many lives and occupies such a large space in the public eye, war is vital to understand. The question then becomes, where to begin? As with most concepts, it would be best to start with a clear and concise definition as to what a war is, exactly. This, however, proves to be no simple task – nor does examining the justifications for war, or even the methods that are used to wage it. What does become clear, however, is this: everything about war is a matter of perception. Definitions, justifications, and methods of warfare are determined by the ideas of those involved. Because of this, it is difficult – if not impossible – to make generalizations about what is clearly an important and worthwhile topic. There is no universally-accepted definition of war. According to political scientists, “organized and deliberate violence by an established political authority must result in at least 1,000 deaths in a calendar year” for a conflict to be…