War and Riots

Disasters are also caused by sociopolitical conflicts that escalate into violence.

War is defined as a conflict between to large groups of population, which involves physical force, violence and the use of weapons. Sometimes war is identified by such terms as “armed conflict”, not only for populist reasons, but to avoid national and international law concerning warfare.

An interstate war is held between two or more states, and is officially decided and led by the governments and national armies.

A civil war defines a conflict between two opposed parties within one country. Sometimes civil wars turn into representative wars, in which both parties receive support from external parties representing certain political interests, which was the case, for example, in Korea and in Vietnam during the cold war. A Guerrilla War defines the conflict of small, independent, partisan fighters who oppose a ruling government. An independence or decolonization war describes efforts of a population or people defending their own state against an occupying force.

A conflict can result from economic measures such as boycotts and sanctions. e.g., Irac and Cuba have been victims of medication boycotts from the USA, which also results in humanitarian damage.

Riot defines the moment when a protest or an act of civil disobedience escalates into violence (between two crowds), either accidentally or on purpose. The violence can be targeted toward a hostile group of people or toward damaging the physical environment, riots are often a mixture of both. They can take place between two opposing civilian groups, e.g., politically left punks and Neo-nazis, civilian protesters and the forces of the state or police and military, e.g., globalization criticizers during the WTO conference in Seattle. The violence can be initiated either by the protesters or by the police. Motivation is often political , but also can be the result of mass hysteria, e.g., during a football game.