The Impacts of War.

A while back I was able to further my understanding of what the concept of war even is, but now I’ve had the chance in furthering how it affects both us as a people and us as a planet. Throughout this process, I was able to learn things one may never know unless told, such as the positive effects war may have and not just the negatives.

After many modern wars that effect the surrounding communities, the people will grow united within it. People of impacted communities begin to rely on each other like never before and learn to trust the people around them more than they would before the torment they’d had to faced in war. Studies hint that this happens in order to replenish what has been destroyed, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally within the community. They also hint that this happens out of empathy for those in their community that have faced the same struggles. Tests have been taken after the wars in Nebal, that bring evidence to these beliefs and studies, seeing the impacted became more active in politics and socializing and become more selfless, as they shared everything they had for those that have lost everything like they once would have. In a short summary, the positive impact of war is that it brought humility and unity back into peoples live’s

‘While the human costs of war are horrific, there may also be at least some reason for optimism once the violence ends.’ (1)

Though, with the positive impacts of unity in communities, there are also negatives that still take place within these impacted lives. Those who grow closer also grow further a part from the outer world, they become distrusting to those they have no connections with and can too become violent if threatened (1). This tends to happen due to the trauma the surrounding communities had to endure during war, it makes them more aware and cautious. People of surrounding communities, also known as ‘collateral damage’, (2) endure not only physical torture, such as; burning, sexual assault, shootings, starvation, but they also face psychological torture, that plays out in their lives for years after the violence, sometimes even until the end of their lives. The psychological torture that takes place during war usually surrounds, humiliation, threats, interigation, deprivation (3), the outcome of these actions that come later usually led to great deals of trauma. People in battle seem to lose all their senses of right and wrong and tend to retreat back to animalistic tendencies that absolutely mutilate the surrounding communities, this is what gives creates all that trauma. After war, people effected face signs of mental illness they may never recover from, some being so intense it leaves people to take there lives. However, I must add when saying ‘people effected’ I speak for both soldiers and those of the ‘collateral damage’ seeing they both come to realization of what has happened or what they have done once the bloodshed subsides. (2)

Finally, I wish to speak on the social torture onces may face before, during and after war. It’s not only people that are effected by these great conflicts but also the earth (3). Before war even begins, land for military base destroy wildlife and pollute the areas with their equipment, as they drain the earth’s core of fossil fuels they need for training and combat. Just that alone is enough to harshly effect this planet. However, during war is where most damage is inflicted upon our planet. Depending on the technology used, there could be large amounts of destruction of cities, wildlife, vegetation, destruction made by pollution, explosions, fires, overue of resources, really any harmful thing one can think of. There is also the social impact of displacement, where populations must migrate and create new homes, destroying ecosystems and abandoning old homes. The impacts on the land that happen during war tend to take forever to recover and are sometimes unrecoverable, stopping the world from being able to replenish (4).

References;

1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/28/researchers-have-found-that-war-has-a-remarkable-and-miraculous-effect/
2. https://www.apa.org/international/united-nations/un-matters/rathi-war.pdf
3. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00020/full
4. https://ceobs.org/how-does-war-damage-the-environment/#:~:text=Land%20mines%2C%20cluster%20munitions%20and%20other%20explosive%20remnants,water%20sources%20with%20metals%20and%20toxic%20energetic%20materials.

– Nova Dupree