Conflict in the 21st Century World Issues 120 Conflict in the 21st Century

Things to think about... Name a movie about war or violence. Name a war hero. Picture a war uniform. Name a video game based on war. Name a war toy. Name a war memorial. Name a movie about peace. Name a peace hero. Picture a peace uniform. Name a video game based on peace. Name a peace toy. Name a peace memorial.

Eisenhower “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired represents, in the final analysis, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, who are cold and not clothed.”

Military Spending The USA spends approx. $700 BILLION each year on their military – that’s almost TWO BILLION DOLLARS A DAY. We tend to think that the $18 to $20 billion we (as Canadians) spend a year on defence amounts to an awful lot over a decade or so.

We're going to need to add on much more — between $33 billion and $42 billion across the coming decade — just to  adequately modernize and maintain our military. And even that wouldn't satisfy our allies.

5 Major Causes of Conflicts Conflicts (or wars) can have many very complicated causes. These can be generally grouped into 5 types: Natural resources Territory Culture Religion Geopolitical

1. Natural Resources Industrial development and population growth increase the demand for finite resources. So far, the most fought-over has been oil. (e.g. Kuwait, Iraq) Many predict that conflicts over water and underwater resources will become more common (e.g. Arctic Basin)

2. Territory Two or more groups wish to control the same territory. The Israel-Palestine conflict is based on territorial disputes (more on this later).

3. Culture People’s way of life is challenged. Ex: Conflict between indigenous (native) people and the majority population that migrated from another part of the world.

4. Religion An important sub-group of cultural conflict. Can divide people and become the cause of deadly conflicts Ex: the “Irish Question” and fighting between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Iraq.

5. Geopolitical Local wars can be small-scale versions of global rivalries. Ex: Vietnam War (Soviet-backed forces vs. American forces) Ex: Korean War (Soviet-backed forces against American-backed forces)

One small Problem... Often, when a superpower backs and provides weapons to a group, this can backfire on them later. Example: Americans provided weapons to Afghan rebels during the Afghan-Soviet war in the 1980’s. 25 years later, those weapons were turned against the Americans.

Costs of Conflict The obvious costs of human lives Wounded and disabled veterans and civilians (even long afterwards from unexploded munitions!) Economic cost (“guns or butter”) Cultural cost to a society that focuses on militaristic aims.

The Middle East We know that it is one of the most conflict-ridden areas in the world. What do you know about the problems in the Middle East? Who is involved in the conflicts? Why are they fighting?

Map Complete the Middle East map