The partially destroyed National and University Library of Bosnia, 1992

Whence Warchitecture

The targeted destruction of the built environment during the Bosnian War led to the emergence of a new term in the discourse of urbicide: warchitecture.
Mahakala

Buddhist Pacifists at War

In the early centuries of Vajrayāna Buddhism in India, practitioners worked to reconcile the religion’s teaching of nonviolence with the realities of warfare.
Illustration of the Battle of Shiloh in the American Civil War

The Psychological Problems of Modern Warfare

As military technology improved in the nineteenth century, military strategists put heavy emphasis on “moral factors” in preparing troops for battle.
Republican troops of the International Brigades at the beginning of the Nationalist attack on the capital during the Spanish Civil War, Spain,1936

Growing Guerrilla Warfare

American resistance to the Nazis had its roots the skills of Spanish Civil War veterans, who were recruited by the OSS when they returned from Spain.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, 1964

Using False Claims to Justify War

Hardly the recent innovation it’s frequently mistakened to be, deception as a path to war has been used by American presidents since the 1800s.
Nordenfelt submarine of the Ottoman empire, probably Abdül Hamid (Nordenfelt II), c. 1886.

The Great Arms Bazaar of the Nineteenth Century

In the late nineteenth century, fed by the disintegration of the Ottoman empire, the European arms race created a global military surplus.
British nationals onboard an RAF aircraft heading to Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus on April 26, 2023 in Khartoum, Sudan

In Sudan’s Civil Conflict, the Arab Cold War Widens

Sudan's decades-long civil war has finally come "home" to Khartoum.
Crowds in Algiers celebrating their country's Independence Day in the city centre

The Algerian War: Cause Célèbre of Anticolonialism

On July 5, 1962, Algeria declared its independence after 132 years of French occupation. The transition was chaotic and violent, but inspired revolutionaries worldwide.
News reporters mingle with members of the International Brigade, amongst them is Ernest Hemingway (with mustache and glasses), during the Spanish Civil War, c. 1937.

The International Brigades

Foreigners fighting for Ukraine may call to mind the International Brigades that fought in defense of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.
Women digging near damaged train tracks during the Battle of Stalingrad, USSR, during World War II.

Counting War’s Civilian Dead

Despite claims of precision strikes and the proliferation of smart bombs, the number of civilians killed in war appears staggeringly high.