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In 1993, statistics state that 79 countries were in conflict, and out of the 79, 65 of them were in third world countries. Forty-two of those wars involved countries that have been torn up by war. Most of these wars are less noticed by the western media even though they may be on a huge scale of suffering. Because most of the wars are located in the third world, they are fought with very low technology and weapons. Nevertheless, they are still as horrific as wars using high-tech weapons such as bombs and other explosives.

Present wars now have no reliable information concerning the scale of deaths or suffering that is caused. This is a result of having no specific persons assigned the task to count the dead or injured. These days, wars have been uncontrollable. At the beginning of the 20th century, wars were often only between militaries. However, now they are greatly impacting regular civilians who are endangered simply because of the conditions during the battle. It is estimated that nearly 20 million people have died in war since 1945. Not only that but the aftermath is terrifying, leaving thousand of people in countries such as Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Mozambique in famine and deprived of necessary health.

A common pattern that occurs in war has much to do about the countries social system. For example, “in Colombia in 1990 and 1991, the main guerrilla groups abandoned war.” This left the smaller and less powerful people to continue fighting the war. A war is only considered so when it meets the following criteria:
            - Governments are engaged in at least one side
            - A central organization that is participating on both sides
            - A continual action or objection between the two sides
            - More than 25 people are killed each year and the total deaths equal at least several hundreds

Source: Smith, Dan . "Concepts and Priorities." War, Peace, and Third World Development. 1994. International Peace Research Institute. 21 Jul 2006 <http://hdr.undp.org/docs/publications/ocational_papers/oc16.htm>