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Abstract of TEDTalks, course reading and charts from the news....

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“The Road to Total War” Abstract: This PBS documentary focused on the development and changing paces of war from Napoleon-era to World War II. He compares the weapons and targets from when wars were more direct with front-liners to their evolution of targeting innocent civilians at home through technological advancements. Gwynne Dyer added a lot of personal touches to the program, such as pointing out places that had been affected by wars. The narrator talked about how nationalism in the French Revolution changed war by explaining that they and their ideas and beliefs were being attacked. In 1921, it was wrote that aerial forces would target the civilian population of the enemy by bombs, which caused the creation of bomb shelters. Dyer analyzed the social and economic developments that encouraged the technological advances and how they made it possible for a single war to kill everyone on Earth. He ends the video with an introduction to the next parts of the miniseries, which is that war is not necessarily a natural and justifiable human event.

“Just War Theory” Abstract: Michael Walzer, the co-editor of Dissent Magazine, talks about how no rulers will send young people into war without justifying it. He said this has caused a long-going argument about when to go to war, why to go to war, who should go to war, etc. He also said noncombatants should be shielded from war and should not be subjected to attack. He ends the video by asking what NATO should do.

“The War Prayer” Abstract: This prayer starts with Mark Twain explaining the joy/excitement/pride soldiers and citizens felt. War was considered a field of honor, and the victims were said to have died the noblest of deaths. Throughout the prayer, Twain essentially explained that those not directly serving in the war were unaware of the true reality of it, as it was simple for them to wish one thing without understanding what it’s really like to serve. He uses strong wording to describe how painful war is and the suffering that goes along with it. Throughout the prayer, you hear the evolution of pre-war thoughts (excitement, pride, etc.) but towards the end you hear the truth (tears, blood on the ground, etc.).

“When States Go To War” Abstract: This article starts out with the fact that wars have decreased by 75% between 1992 and 2005, an inner-state conflicts have become more prevalent. Canada and Brazil are among only a few others that have had 0 conflicts involving government forces fought within the country’s territory, whereas India is the only one that has had 13. Even though China has had more conflicts on home soil (7-9) than the United States has (1-3), the United States has been involved in conflict for 30 or more years, while China has only been involved in at least one conflict for 15-29 years.

“Causes of War, Causes of Peace” Abstract: This article starts out by saying that there have been 3 broad pattern shifts in armed conflict since 1945: end of colonial warfare, virtual disappearance of conflicts between states and a rapid rise/steep fall in fighting within states. In 2000-2005, more conflicts ended than began for the first time since the 1950s. In 2005, anocracies and autocracies had more armed conflict (both state-based and non-state) than democracies. At the end of 2005 in December, there were nearly 70,000 peacekeepers and civilian police deployed by the UN worldwide. Between 2000 and 2005, the Russian Federation had 10,000 or more battle-deaths, right above the United States (which only had 1,000-9,999 deaths)....