Chapter 14: War and Terrorism War, Civil War, and Terrorism

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Summary
Terrorism has taken in a “new face” in that both civilians and the military are targeted. Today, civil wars have been on the increase where organized groups within a nation or country engage in wars with the civilians or other groups. Further, armed conflicts have been on the rise such that by 2008, a record of 16 major armed conflicts existed across the world. Additionally, acts of terrorism take place in the world every year leading to more deaths.
War affects the quality of life in general. When there is war, human destruction reaches high rates. From the beginning of the American Civil War to the present day, approximately one million military personnel have perished in warfare and more than 1.5 million have suffered injuries. With the advancement of technology such as better weapons like machine guns and specialized bombs, human destruction becomes more enormous during times of war. In reality, more deaths occurred in the 20th century during wars than it in the previous centuries. War does not choose and so civilians including children become victims of war and terrorism. Generally, war and terrorism lead to a reduction in the quality of life in various ways such as death, severe injuries, psychological distress, interpersonal disruption, mistrust, anxiety, loss of human dignity, economic loss, violation of civil freedom, and even environmental destruction. Currently, the military spending in the United States has gone up tremendously taking on resources that could be used elsewhere such as in the healthcare system. In 2009, the budget for the national defense was estimated at 675.1 billion dollars, which accounts...