Globalization and the changing face of war

The relationship between globalization and violence is complicated. However, what we can say first is that war is a globalizing force and, secondly, that processes of globalization have over the past few decades intensified and extended the impact of localized wars. Iraq and Afghanistan provide obvious examples. Notwithstanding the decline in the number of state-based armed conflicts over the course of the late-twentieth century, globalization has contributed to the disruption of relations, conflict over resources, and a reinvigoration of identity politics, including neo-fundamentalism, sectarianism, and nationalism. This does not mean that globalization in itself causes war, or that war is globalizing across all levels of social life, but it does mean that in understanding the changing nature of war, conflict, and violence in the present that processes of globalization need to be at the center of any analysis.