entire book - Chris Hables Gray

Introduction: From Sarajevo
to Sarajevo, the USS
Oklahoma to Oklahoma City
"Y • ou may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." This
quotation, ascribed by some to Leon Trotsky and others to Leo Tolstoy, is
very popular among historians of war. I admit I've used it myself in my more
irritable moments, not just in texts but with friends and students alike. Why
is it so seductive a ... story? Several reasons are clear. First, these are very
confusing times when it comes to war. From domestic terrorism to nuclear
war the range of contemporary war is boggling—and baffling. Second, war's
restless energy, its almost palpable agency, are also clear in this little bon mot.
War isn't just something that humans make, it is.
Or is it? Explaining what makes war possible is one of the two great goals
of this book. Well, perhaps that is putting it optimistically. Perhaps telling
several intertwined stories about how war works would be more realistic—
and quite sufficient. The second main goal of this book is to specifically
explain, in part, why war has become the confusion it is now and to shed
some light on what we can expect in the future. I am convinced that there
are ways to explain contemporary war. The best of these stories are grounded
in careful attention to what we can know of history. The cloudy mirror of
the future is a reflection and projection of the past. This explains my emphasis
on history. Too many theorists of contemporary war are unfamiliar with the
long twisted tale of war itself.
So this is the story of war today, in reference to what war has been and
dreams of what it will be. The rest is just elaboration. The postmodern theory,
the medieval history, the arcana of high-tech weaponry and even the exegesis
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