ABSTRACT

To understand their world, people need to understand their time. Time is a measure of change. Time, or the spirit of the time, describes the dominant trends of an era. War is an armed conflict between two or more political units. Contemporary wars are potentially much more destructive than the wars known from history. Never before have human beings developed such means of destruction, and never before have they been equipped with such powerful tools of mass manipulation and indoctrination. Some conflicts and wars can be considered intra-epochal, and others inter-epochal. The clash of epochs is a conflict between traditionalism, modernity, and postmodernity. America is not merely a continent or a country. It is a symbol of the world's transformation. Although the transformation process does not always proceed smoothly, and occasional resistance is encountered, the whole world follows America and is being transformed according to one model.