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Another school of thought argues that war can be seen as an outgrowth of economic competition in an anarchic international system. That wars begin as a pursuit of new markets, of natural resources, and of wealth. Unquestionably a cause of some wars, from the empire building of Britain to the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in pursuit of oil this theory has been applied to many other conflicts. It is most often advocated by those of the left of the political spectrum who argue that such wars serve only the interests of the wealthy but are fought by the poor.
The economic theories also form a part of the Marxist theory of war, which argues that all war grows out of the class war. It sees wars as imperial ventures to enhance the power of the ruling class and divide the proletariat of the world by pitting them against each other for contrived ideals such as nationalism or religion. Further, wars are a natural outgrowth of the free market and class system, and will not disappear until a world revolution occurs.
Smaller armed conflicts are often called riots, rebellions, coups, etc.
When one country sends armed forces to another allegedly to restore order or prevent genocide or other crimes against humanity, or to support a legally recognized government against insurgency, that country sometimes refers to it as a police action. This usage is not always recognized as valid, however, particularly by those who do not accept the connotations of the term.
A war where the forces in conflict belong to the same country or empire or other political entity is known as a civil war.
The terrain over which a war is fought has a big impact on the type of combat which takes place. This in turn means that soldiers have to be trained to fight in a specific type of terrain. These include:
Troops such as the Brigade of Gurkhas have to be acclimatised to fighting in a European environment. When they provided infantry flanking support for the British Armour entering Kosovo after the Kosovo War in 1999, they called the deciduous woodland on the mountains either side of the road (small hills to them) jungle.
Warfare is indisputably destructive; it destroys lives, causes physical and psychological injury, and destroys property. War is waged at a cost, but are there benefits as well? Can the benefits outweigh the costs at times?
Near term
In the near term, the economic costs of war and defense usually exceed the benefits, by almost any measure which excludes the cost of wars averted by strong defenses.
While some point to beneficial economic effects from warfare and defense spending, including invention and economic stimulus , opponents of this view argue that resources expended on warfare could be applied to education, research and infrastructure without the destructive or unproductive component, i.e., that the same good could have been achieved without the costs. (See Parable of the broken window.)
Long term
Wars are sometimes advocated on moral grounds, such as freeing people from brutal dictatorships. While such wars may have a costly and disruptive effect in the short term, after a few years a more stable and productive society can emerge, perhaps with less loss of life overall than would have occurred under the old regime. Intervention in genocide or ethnic cleansing would seem to be an unassailable example of this.
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