Outside the Beltway has a comprehensive posting on the decline of warfare over the past 20 years. For the moment, I'll quote Jame's Joyner's comment and add one of my own. Joyner summarizes the discussion:
Mack and Bay are onto something with their focus on the mass media's coverage of war as a key variable. Even though modern wars are fought with greater precision and far fewer casualties than their predecessors of even a quarter century ago, the Western public is increasingly hostile to war and its consequences. Seeing them unfold live and in color in their living rooms is surely a major contributing factor to that.
There are three themes to be explored:
- The reasons for the decline of warfare
- The reasons for the mainstream media's near total failure to report the story
- The religious dimensions of the story
The nature of warfare is changing. Church leaders, insofar as I can see, are unaware of this. Most of them are dedicated to their "prophetic role" in speaking against war and violence. This influences their politcal outlook but prevents them from paying listening to the voice of military professionals and poltical scientists.
More later, when I get back home from a wedding in Venezuela.
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