This Is The Most Important Thing in the World Right Now

Once upon a time, war was thought to result from an escalation of conflict. Threats were usually identifiable as whole nations. People could tell when a war was looming, for the buildup was visible and violent.

Then somewhere between when you and I were born and when you and I started high school, a global transition long in the making came full circle, and international conflict became significantly more difficult to understand. Threats to security no longer came only from states, and the precursors to war were often a series of politically charged armaments and disarmaments, accords and disagreements, power configurations and reconfigurations — instead of violent escalation. Pre-emption became legitimate. The world’s publics were at times confused by these changes, but did their best to reconceptualize the new causes of war and understand that the precursors to war in the modern world had changed.