Dictionary of WARS Third Edition
first published in 1986 and in a revised edition
in 1999, is to provide a useful and convenient
one-volume reference source on the major conflicts
throughout the world from ancient times
to the present. This third edition aims to do
the same, presenting clear, essential, and accurate
historical information on major and minor
wars, revolts, revolutions, rebellions, uprisings,
invasions, and insurrections. Today, numerous
countries and regions are embroiled in conflicts
carried on by different belligerent factions, often
labeled as militant extremists or dissidents,
armed rebels or insurgents, guerrillas, jihadists,
fascists, separatists, or secessionists. In some
places, conflicts are also part of or connected to
fraternal battles between political, ethnic, sectarian,
religious, or racial groups seeking influence
and power.
In modern times, warfare and military conditions
are undergoing change, due in large part
to the increase in domestic and international
terrorism and violence. The goals of terrorists or
fanatical rebels or criminal gangs, whose leadership
and cohesion are often split and who
often have large arsenals of weapons, are different
from those of organized states and disciplined
armies in war. Terrorists may seek only
to destabilize regions and want violence for its
own sake. Frequently young and fearless, they
may be seeking glory in inflicting death on
innocent and defenseless civilians. They do not
respect the sanctity of each human life and are
not concerned with the ideals of liberty and the
values of democracy. Domestic terrorists have
incited much unrest and turmoil and committed
mass murder and genocide in many places,
such as Chechnya, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda,
Somalia, Iraq, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, Sudan, Peru, and Sierra Leone. International
terrorists have caused much bloodshed
in their attacks in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Spain, the
United States, Britain, and elsewhere, and their
numbers are rising. Perhaps we are now experiencing
a worldwide tactical "war of terrorism"
that may last many decades until the terrorists
(whether they be militant rebels, criminals,
or religious, ethnic, or ideological fanatics) are
crushed or pushed back, along with their special
tyranny.
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