ABSTRACT
In the transition to the twenty-first century, the past decade has, by one count, witnessed 18 major wars in which more than a thousand lives were lost, plus twice that number of “minor” violent conflicts.1 In every case the circumstances are distinctive, so that generalization is perilous. As in Rwanda, Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Palestine-Israel, and Sri Lanka, most have an ethnic component; but others, as in Colombia and Haiti, have resulted from economic grievances and competing political ambitions. Some, as in Liberia and Congo, combine ethnic, economic, and political lines of cleavage. In all cases the principal victims have been innocent civilians, including children, many reduced to the pitiful status of refugees or displaced persons, their livelihoods shattered, their homes and communities devastated. The physical infrastructure of roads and bridges, dams and water supplies, power plants and electrical grids have been fought over and destroyed, public services that provide health facilities and education have been disrupted, as have commercial channels that supply basic necessities and facilitate the marketing of goods and services. When fighting finally abates or ceases altogether, it is usually because the parties are near exhaustion and international intervention has produced a tenuous cease-fire or armistice. These arrangements may be monitored by international peace-keeping forces.
