An Anthropological View of War and Violence

Abstract

What would a general theory of the role of warfare and coercion in human society look like? As an initial, stark hypothesis, I would propose a new law of three stages: at first, violence was contingent and optional. In a second stage, violence became pervasive, mandatory and normative. Military skills become central to the dominant ethos. In the third stage, which we are at present entering, violence becomes once again optional, counter-productive, and probably fatal.