Are New Wars A Form Of War Or Violence Without Borders

Analysis of New Wars Student’s Name Institution Date Introduction The experiences of the Cold War, in association with the increasing challenges of globalization, and also the introduction of mass destruction weapons, has led to the reinforced interest among experts and academics regarding warfare (Strachan, & Scheipers, 2011). The need to comprehend the manner that warfare is conducted within a globalised, modern and network-centred society after technological advances in weaponry has led to the increased analysis of modern warfare by experts. This paper will seek to determine whether new wars are only a form of war or merely violence without borders. It will also assess the logic and characteristics of new wars and the issues associated with new wars will also be evaluated. Analysis Violent conflicts have been a central concern mainly in the field of international relations and political science. Most scholars have focused on describing, comprehending, predicting and trying to find ways of preventing violent conflicts (Berdal, 2011). As a result, the main challenge of experts has been to effectively identify the changes in patterns of violent conflict and also determine the relevance of the causes, nature and the effects of new wars. The qualitative changes associated with violent conflicts has led to experts determining such acts can now be identified as contemporary conflicts especially civil wars compared to earlier forms of conflicts that have impacted individuals on a global scale. Additionally, the new wars can be compared with earlier wars in regards to their goals, the methods of warfare and also the manner that they are framed (Kaldor, 2013). The characteristics associated with new wars New wars are linked with failures of the state and also societal changes that have been enhanced by globalization and liberal economic forces. This has led to the establishment of strong competition over illegal commercial opportunities and natural resources. Additionally this issue has led to the initiation of private military institutions and also criminal warlords in various regions. Each of these components is highly associated to political identity issues (Mueller, 2007). Ethnic and religious conflicts are also related to new wars. Civilian casualties and human displacement problems are some of the consequences of violent conflicts in various states such as Somalia since 1990. Most civilians have started to be deliberately targeted as an objective of new wars. These include atrocities over some countries and this also leads to ethnic homogenization and both of these elements are the important hallmarks of new wars (Newman, 2004, pp.173-189). There has also been a breakdown of public authority which has blurred the difference between public and private combatants and also between civilians and combatants. Literature concerning new wars has highlighted that various international effort and humanitarian assistance has been increased due to the instances of violent conflicts in some nations. The occurrences of internal warfare in some countries are associated to international interventions which have claimed to assit in the promotion of effective democracy and improvement of market structures (Newman, 2004, pp.173-189). Analysis of the characteristics of new wars Newman, (2004, pp.173-189) stated that the socio-economic context of new wars have been characterized by collapsed states and also nations with weak economies. Also, this is characterized by the existence of rivalries between illegal enterprises over natural resources. Globalization is a significant component of the political economy of new wars. This process has also been the initial point that has led to the erosion of state authorities that has been accompanied by violent conflicts (Newman, 2004, pp.173-189). The globalization process is also connected to the collapse of social and economic divisions that have clearly defined the various political patterns of the state which have increased modernized warfare. Chatterji, (2012) made arguments concerning new wars as the author stated that economic motivations are the main underlying forces of violent conflicts. The violence created due to modern warfare has also led to creation of several commercial opportunities. Therefore, a continuation of these violent conflicts is a firm principle that has led to the expansion of new wars and not for attaining military victory for some states (Chatterji, 2012). In this context, it is clear that new war only lead to the creation of war economies which have been constant in collapsed states controlled by warlords. This is also connected to international smuggling routes and also armed gangs have benefited from looting during chaotic conflicts State regimes can utilize violence for the purpose of deflecting opposition, reward their supporters and also maintain their control over accessing resources. In these circumstances, the whole process of ending contemporary wars becomes a huge challenge (Strachan, & Scheipers, 2011). There is a unanimous view on literature concerning new wars whereby there is an unhappy trend of emerging conflicts that had raised the vulnerability of civilians which is typically involving their deliberate targeting. Therefore, new wars are associated with the deliberate targeting and vicious displacement of civilians (Kaldor, 2013). This has become the main objective of violence in various countries globally whereby these conflicts involve extreme and conspicuous ethnic cleansing, the use of child soldiers and also increased civilian casualties which are prominent elements of civil wars in most countries today. This can be explained by the shifting contexts involved in the functioning of violent conflict. This means that the objective of combatants in new wars is no longer necessarily determined by their victory over a specific agenda; however, it involves a continuation of these violent acts on their own (Mueller, 2007). In areas such a Liberia and Bosnia, the armed forces have never seemed to fight against each other however, new wars have led to military action which is motivated by systematic killings and terrorizing the populations in these regions. New wars use approaches that have deliberately targeted weak individuals such as children and women. In some wars today, ninety percent of casualties in conflicts are non-combatants .This is less than fifteen percent of the non-combatants that were casualties in most old wars. At the beginning of the twentieth century, almost ninety percent of casualties were military soldiers (Kaldor, 2013). However in the Second World War, half of all the related deaths were non-combatants. In the late 1990s, this scenario was completely reversed as new wars have contributed to over eighty percent of all the civilian casualties. The rationale of new wars New wars normally occur in regions whereby the authority within these states have been significantly weakened due to being open to globalization which only has led to negative outcomes. In such a context, numerous differences have emerged such as private and public, political and economic frameworks and also war and peace which have ultimately, collapsed (Chatterji, 2012). The crumbling of these distinctions has been a major cause and consequence associated to contemporary violence. The rationale of modern warfare can be linked with the comparisons that will be highlighted blow between new wars and old wars. The main areas that will be identified include the objectives, participants, finance and applied methods in both wars. Objectives Old wars were mainly fought for geopolitical reasons and also ideologies such as democracy. New wars however, were fought in the name of religious and ethnic identity. Identity politics has an entirely different perspective when compared to perspective based on geopolitics (Kaldor, 2013).The purpose of new wars was to acquire access to the state for particular g...