War and Conflict Reflection Paper. Reflecting on the material covered in this section (Blum chapters, Chomsky, Hagan et al. and Hossein-Zadeh) and on the general thrust of Heiners work think deeply about the following questions. As Heiner (2016) indicates a problem that affects society often comes to the attention of society not due to the degree of actual harm that the phenomenon causes or reflects nor due to the numbers of those affected (scope) but for other reasons. It is difficult to imagine a phenomenon that creates more harm with greater numbers affected than does war and conflict. (Think of the numbers of people killed in all sides + wounded +property destruction +homeless +infrastructure damage + disease/health impacts + psychological trauma). Why might it be that war, instead of being seen as a major social problem, is often presented as a solution? Think of and identify a particular recent conflict of which the United States was a party. What were the stated objectives of the war/conflict? What other variables/factors helped lead to the war/invasion? Where there any social or economic sectors that stood to benefit from the conflict? What suffering was caused as a result? Which parties were affected? What was the end result? Finally, why do you think Chomsky opens his discussion of Outlaw States with a references to the Nuremburg Trials and the Geneva Conventions? What is his message and to whom is he conveying it? Your analysis should identify social/economic/political forces that go beyond attributing conflict to this or that personality.
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