Most people would agree when told that war is a disturbing concept. History suggests that the typical cause of war is territorial gain. The Israel-Palestine conflict, the Gulf War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and World War Two are all examples from the past century. If war is so disturbing, why is it so common?
Aggression has been one of the most constant characteristics visible in Homo sapiens throughout history. When early humans realised that they could become the hunters and not the prey, tools were cleverly invented to balance the scale. Evidence suggests that the first weapon made was the spear which the Homo erectus used around 400,000BC. Weapons have developed through the discovery of bronze and iron and the invention of gunpowder and atomic missiles. Eventually, at the dawn of civilisation, the scale tipped to favour the humans. Mass destruction, death and fear caused by weapons created a social divide. Warriors became leaders, humans no longer attacked animals, but each other. A technologically advanced country was safer than a crude one. All the wars of the 20th century rooted from the arms race and insecurity in defence
Psychological warfare like the spread of propaganda is as important as a bomb and causes even more damage. Fabrications conveyed so consistently that it altered the truth to match a violent and gruesome intent. During the Cold War, both the USA and USSR circulated misinformation and blurred the line between fact and opinion.
The US marketed its aggression in Vietnam and Korea as 'Liberty', while Russia's 'Equality' was a hoax to give their leaders more power! Mass manipulation and blatant lying can be extremely powerful. The first thing the Nazi's did when they rose to power was take control of the newspapers and radios.
Weapons aren’t defined by specific materials or level of brutality. Anything can be a weapon, millions exist and millions more will develop, handing subsection of the population superiority, making the inferior groups use weapons, out of fear, and so the cycle continues.