Global Security Concerns - Anticipating the Twenty-First Century

FROM THE AUTHORS - One of the most important and intellectually fascinating areas of investigation for the student of political affairs concerns the attempt to understand why man makes war. This ancient field of inquiry may be addressed at such various levels as the philosophical and psychological or the institutional and structural contexts of human behavior. For example, did the recent wars in Somalia, Rwanda, and Haiti result from clashing ideologies, tribalism, poverty and class warfare, the cold war, or distant ramifications of colonial history, or, as has been postulated, the trees of these countries having been cut down? These plausible sources of conflict offer insight into various dimensions of explanations for wars; however, the analysts in this volume focus on just one aspect of the inquiry. They were charged with the task of anticipating which specific contentious issues likely will propel large, organized political units to choose violent means of acquiring their sociopolitical objectives rather than attaining them peacefully. The units on which we focus have been traditionally identified as states, but we recognize that a host of new sub- and suprastate actors also will play major roles in such wars; hence, we also will allude to them. The specific issues identified in the text are by no means completely new sources of contention. Indeed, we may easily argue that throughout history men have fought over the same objects and values-only the weapons, strategies, and tactics in their acquisition have changed. We concentrate on those issues that we believe will be prominent sources of contention at the dawn of the twenty-first century. We knowingly omitted some of the most pervasive and such well-articulated causes of wars as power-balancing initiatives or the quest for such natural resources as oil or strategic minerals. These causes no doubt will prevail as sources of violent conflict, but they will not likely assume new forms as will those issues which ' comprise our chapter topics. Air University Press. U.S. Air Force.