Greeks and Romans equated international norms with natural law. The Western military tradition has its origins in Greco-Roman antiquity, an age that already knew certain customary laws of war. Even the pre-state warfare of primitive peoples, despite incidents of massacre and annihilation, may have had ritualistic aspects with restraints on violence. Observance of rules could depend on one’s enemy, whether a neighbor sharing the same culture or a total stranger. Humanitarian concerns and chivalry-the sense of fair play-interact with military necessity in shaping rules, although civil wars, revolts and conflicts with supposed “inferiors” can affect the rules’ application. Wars for honor, power, territory and natural resources can differ markedly from wars of religion or race in terms of ferocity and intensity.
Culture, political aims, social organization, economic means and technology shape the style of warfare in a particular epoch. Still, some wars are bloodier than others. The notion that rules go out the window as soon as the shooting starts is exaggerated, though no set of rules, even if scrupulously observed, can change war’s basic violent nature. In love, perhaps-in war almost never.ĭespite the impression that fighting in our era of terrorism and guerrilla warfare is no-holds-barred, armed conflicts between sovereign states do have generally accepted rules both formal and informal. But does it work?Īll’s fair in love and war. From ancient origins the informal rules of war have developed into a complex code designed to curb man’s lawless violence.
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