TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 What I mean is that Russia or the rebels, whoever's been shooting down Ukrainian planes, could have mistaken it for a Ukranian military plane, but it's unlikely Ukraine would have mistaken it for a rebel plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Ooooh. Yeah, sorry I'm like Ukraine = both side of the civil war. Much easier that way, especially given all the "who is and isn't Ukrainian" stuff. This is jsut an extra layer of mess on top of a big messy pile of mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Beautiful world that we got here in 2014. Ukraine, Israel and Syria/Iraq. There might be some that I'm missing but those three should be the big ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Actually I've read that even though it seems like there's a lot of conflicts, in terms of the percentage of the world population directly impacted by military conflict each year the 21st century has been the most peaceful century ever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoCreator Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Beautiful world that we got here in 2014. Ukraine, Israel and Syria/Iraq. There might be some that I'm missing but those three should be the big ones. It actually really is. In terms of percentage of people fighting; there are less people engaged in warfare today than any other times in human history. Almost every war currently being fought is little more than a boarder skirmish or single nation civil war. We live in truly peaceful times. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Actually I've read that even though it seems like there's a lot of conflicts, in terms of the percentage of the world population directly impacted by military conflict each year the 21st century has been the most peaceful century ever. Well...it's only been 14 years. Zombies should be arriving any second now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Oh yeah, WW3 could turn that number around real fast, but it's actually a trend that's held true since WW2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoCreator Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Oh yeah, WW3 could turn that number around real fast, but it's actually a trend that's held true since WW2. If you take a more spread average, we've been trending towards less warfare since the 11th century, possibly earlier though reliable records are hard to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 I could be wrong, but I thought that if you included WW1 and WW2 then the 20th century was one of the most violent in terms of % of population impacted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Fewer wars, but when big ones occur, they are really goddamn huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 The fact that we haven't had a major (direct) conflict between powers in 70 years though is pretty impressive I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Fewer wars, but when big ones occur, they are really goddamn huge. I think this is were nuclear weapons (and other WMDs to an extent) come into play. We do still have conflicts but the big players don't want to actively duke it out themselves since it may involve families electing to drive towards mushroom clouds. Though... I personally feel Putin's Russia is using that fear to their advantage. That's another topic though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoCreator Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 I could be wrong, but I thought that if you included WW1 and WW2 then the 20th century was one of the most violent in terms of % of population impacted. That's what most people think, but actually no. Despite their size, both world wars where shockingly low for deathtoll. Often the same soldiers would be in the same trenches for months, and both sides occupied enemy cities leaving the civilian population relatively unscathed. This didn't happen in earlier wars. Even accounting for the holocaust, the dealth toll is shockingly low for the world wars compared to say Napoleonic times or the Viking invasions, where "burn down everything, and kill everyone except the women you intend to rape" was the norm. People forget about the massive slaughters that happened in earlier times, more modern deaths resonate more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Okay, I think we're mostly talking about different kinds of statistics here: people living in a city that's occupied are directly affected by the conflict, regardless of whether there are mass killings or anything like that. In terms of % of people killed I'm sure you're right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoCreator Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Okay, I think we're mostly talking about different kinds of statistics here: people living in a city that's occupied are directly affected by the conflict, regardless of whether there are mass killings or anything like that. In terms of % of people killed I'm sure you're right. That's a little harder to judge. After all, are we directly affected by wars in Iraq because our taxes change? Where is the line drawn? As for if more people where affected by the world wars, I'm not sure but I know a few history graduates who'd probably be able to tell me. I'll get back to you on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Yeah, there's some inherent fuzziness in the idea of "directly". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalCaveman Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Israel starts Gaza ground offensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 I believe as a total percentage the English Civil War was our most devastating, with around 3.5-4% population loss, compared to 2% in WWI and 1% in WWII. But as noted it's largely because back in the day you'd raze the entire area, much like Mongols did (one of the highest death tolls alongside WWI and WWII). I wouldn't imagine there's any particular trend, modern military weapons, tactics and medicine means war is less likely to cause death, but due to nautural population growth is more likely to involve more people. Mongols killed less than the World Wars in raw number count, but by percentage the Mongol empire killed enough to slightly reverse global warming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 So apparently now Russia is firing artillery into Ukraine. https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/492367793728520192 This is becoming worrying. (Sorry to just linking a tweet, but I can't find an actual story about it yet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 What do you guys think about ISIS and how do you think it will all go down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 What do you guys think about ISIS and how do you think it will all go down? I've been practicing my Arabic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 (edited) So I heard that Russians are going on vacation in Ukraine... in tanks. Apparently the local bear populations need AP shells to kill. http://aco.nato.int/new-satellite-imagery-exposes-russian-combat-troops-inside-ukraine.aspx Edited August 29, 2014 by MaliciousH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Yeah, I'm really confused why Russia is still denying it. What do they hope to gain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 By the looks of it, it seems like the Ebola outbreak is destined to burn itself out rather than humanity starving it out. I find that to be a very depressing though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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