The political-economic interests of states – behind contemporary fighting – are aimed at overthrowing unfavorable governments abroad, seeking easy trade deals, using natural resources around the world and to establish a desired world order to wage modern wars, not holy wars. Holy wars are fought to propagate or suppress a religion against those considered “enemies of God.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The existence of wars can be traced back to the time when competition and conflict emerged as social concepts parallel to cooperation. Human societies and nations have fought wars for various reasons: religious, political and economic. Wars fought on a religious basis were called Holy Wars which are very different from the Modern Wars we witness today. Unlike holy wars, modern wars remain considerably political and economic in nature. These do not arise from any pure rivalry or religious agenda. According to the Encyclopedia of War, of all known/recorded historical conflicts, only about 7% had religion as a root cause, and of this percentage, 4% were related to Islam. In several conflicts, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian civil war, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, religious arguments are overtly present but variously described as religious fundamentalism or extremism depending on the observer's sympathies. In classical antiquity the notion of a pantheon with a divine "division of labor" developed. Now, Ares was the "personification of war", but while Ares received occasional sacrifices from armies going to war, only a very limited "cult of Ares" existed. While early empires could be described as henotheistic, that is, dominated by a single god of the ruling elite or more directly deifying the ruler in an imperial cult, the concept of "Holy War" enters a new phase with the development of monotheism. In early Christianity, St. Augustine's concept of just war (Bellum custom) was widely accepted, but warfare was not considered a virtuous activity. According to historian Edward Peters, before the 11th century, Christians had not developed the concept of "Holy War". During the 9th and 10th centuries multiple invasions occurred which led some regions to create their own armies to defend themselves and this slowly led to the emergence of the Crusades, the concept of "holy war" and terminology such as "enemies of God". in the 11th century. Although technically the millennium of Muslim conquests could be classified as a "religious war", the applicability of the term has been questioned. This has happened many times throughout history, beginning with Muhammad's battles against the polytheistic Arabs, including the Battle of Badr (624) and the battles at Uhud (625), Khandaq (627), Mecca (630), and Hunayn (630). of the most sensitive issues, and although every religion encourages the idea of ​​peace and tolerance, almost no one remains at peace or tolerates anything when it comes to their religion. History is full of religious wars and some of them continued for years and killed many people. The Battle of Badar, fought on 17 Ramadan, 2 AH in the Islamic calendar) in the Hejaz region of western Arabia, was purely religious. Muslims fought against non-believers for the sake of Islam. 14 Muslims were martyred in this battle. The Battle of Uhad and the Battle of Hind were also religiously based and were fought by Muslims against non-believers. The Second Keppel War was fought in 1531, on Swiss soil,following religious conflicts between Catholic and Protestant cantons. At the time it was roughly estimated that 7,000 Protestants and 2,000 Catholics fought this war and in the end more than 700 people died, most of them civilians. The Lebanese civil war was very particular and different from other religious wars, since it was fought between Sunnis and Shiites in the land of Lebanon. Both sides belong to different ethnic groups of Islam and both wanted government control over Lebanon. The Lebanese Civil War began in 1975 and ended in the late 1990s and it is estimated that more than 150,000 people were killed in these conflicts between countries. The Crusades is just a generic title for the multiple wars and religious clashes that were fought between Muslims and Christians. These wars were due to religious disputes and land controls in Jerusalem. The first war began in 1095 and lasted until 1097, while the second war began in 1097 and continued until 1127. Along with many other wars, everything stopped in 1303 when both war soldiers shed the blood of more than half a million of civilians in the country. fight and control of that land was given to the Christians. The Thirty Years' War is a series of religious wars, fought between 1618 and 1648 in Europe, and at that time most European countries participated in these wars. This period of warfare is the longest and most destructive period of fighting in world history resulting in the deaths of over 800,000 people, including soldiers and civilians. These short-term wars were also fought amid religious conflicts between the Holy Roman Empire, France, Sweden, and Spain. The wars fought today are very different from religious wars. “Holy” wars were waged with the aim of achieving religious objectives such as the conquest of holy cities, the expansion of “holy” empires, etc. But modern wars are waged by nations to secure their own geopolitical interests. Most nations involved in modern warfare are secular. Warfare in modern times has been the inclusion of civilians and civilian infrastructure as targets to destroy the enemy's ability to engage in warfare. Modern warfare uses military concepts, methods, and technology that came into use during and after World Wars I and II. Religion has been the cause of every major war in history. I have heard this text recited like a mantra by American commentators and psychiatrists, London taxi drivers and Oxford academics. It's a strange observation. Obviously the two world wars were not fought because of religion.” (Karen Armstrong) Nation states are indulgent in fighting these wars to secure their own political-strategic interests, to protect their investments, to seek maximum benefits from other countries' governments and from available commercial opportunities. Beyond that, the fight against terrorism is another idea that overwhelms Modern Wars by distinguishing them from Holy Wars. Starting from the political-strategic interests behind modern wars, one can clearly see that holy wars are a totally different thing. What. This is the world of nation-states. Each of these states maintains specific political interests related to developments around the world. There are strategic interests nurtured by modern nations to have a favorable political environment in different regions. Amid these complexities, these nations cooperate when necessary but also fight wars when they wish. Examples of such modern wars driven by political-strategic interests are evident. Take the US-led wars fought in the Middle Eastern nations of Syria and Iraq. These wars are not against the religion prevalent in the said region, butto secure strategic leverage and political purchase there. The United States desires a pro-American Middle Eastern regime. That's why he overthrows and installs governments in the name of democracy. All this makes his modern wars different from the traditional concept of Holy Wars which was purely religious like the Crusades. Another example is the presence of Russia, Türkiye and Iran in the Syrian civil war. These states are present and actively engaged in the Syrian war to secure their political interest of regional influence, control and dominance against the United States of America. Third, Saudi Arabia's fight against the Houthi rebels in Yemen is not purely political.religious causes. Its primary objective is to secure its strategic interests and contain Iran's expansion. The Saudis believe that the Houthis (who are Shia) are supported by Iran and that they do not want another Iranian proxy army on their southern border to control most of Yemen. The second thing that makes modern wars separate from holy wars are the economic and trade arenas. of interests. States engage in trade within and outside its borders. Powerful nations tend to secure their economic interests abroad through Pacific instruments of concessions and aid. But sometimes they also resort to combative measures for this purpose. For example, the United States continues to maintain its military presence in Iraq not to fight a sacred fight, but to hold the country's natural resources and exploit them to maximum economic benefit. Former President Barak Obama's statement proves this true: "Terrorists were allowed to invade part of Iraqi territory. This represents a danger to Iraq and its population, given the nature of these terrorists, it could also pose a threat for American interests." Experts in the region question whether oil, terrorism or anything else justifies U.S. military action in Iraq. Similarly, China and the United States of America are engaged in an undeclared and informal fight in Africa for control of the region's natural resources for future overuse. economic value. Africa has long been torn by conflicts driven by sectarian enmities, power struggles and colonial border disputes. With the exception of Egypt, the entire continent falls under the purview of the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM. Founded in 2007, AFRICOM was responsible for the 2011 intervention in Libya that supported the rebellion against the government of Colonel Moammar al-Gaddafi. In the following years, AFRICOM troops were also involved in the fight against Islamist insurrections in Libya, Mali and Chad. While China is present there for African diamonds, uranium deposits, rare metals and fossil fuels. Chinese investors have made notable progress on the continent in recent decades, negotiating numerous construction projects, mineral rights and oil and gas exploration deals. Being economic rivals, both states are at war in Africa. This clearly differentiates these modern wars from holy wars fought for religious purposes. In another aspect, modern wars are fought to gain access to free trade agreements and to establish economic hegemony. This is what we have seen in recent months in Southeast Asia. The United States and China have clashed to maintain economic hegemony in the said region. Southeast Asia, being the home of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is the hub of economic activity. This brings the United States and China – the world's two major powers – into a modern-day contest that is in no way holy. In the end,.