Increasingly, wars are fought in precisely those countries that can least afford them. Of more than 150 major conflicts since the Second World War, 130 have been fought in the developing world.

The Navy SEALs (SEa, Air and Land) are the U.S. Navy’s principal special operations force. Their members are trained to operate in all climates and environments.

According to UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund), millions of landmines remain hidden around the world. They are regularly triggered by unsuspecting civilians.

WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) can be chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear. They are designed primarily to kill large numbers of people and destroy whole buildings.

1. According to the Cambodian leader Pol Pot (1975-1979), landmines were “perfect soldiers” because they never slept and were always ready to attack.
2. Because of technological advancements, modern warfare has become more anonymous. Hence the question asked by the American organization Globalization101: “Does the use of UAVs promote a feeling of being ‘removed from the battlefield’ that allows an individual to consider ‘pulling the trigger’ without wholly considering the consequences?”
3. Think of a modern conflict – Iraq, Syria, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Kosovo – and the pictures that come to mind are endless columns of refugees and the debris-strewn bodies of women and children.
4. The war does not end when you come home. It lives on in memories of your fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who gave their lives. It endures in the wound that is slow to heal, the disability that isn’t going away, the dream that wakes you at night, or the stiffening in your spine when a car backfires down the street.