CRIMINOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WAR

Abstract

The paper deals with criminological analysis of war as a negative social phenomenon, from the earliest communities up to the New Age, by using historical and comparative methods. Being an armed conflict between people and groups, war is an act of force and coercion aimed at imposing one’s will on the enemy. The paper aims to describe the evolution of warfares through three major historical epochs: the Old Age, the Middle Ages, and the New Age. The author analyzes each major historical period in terms of the prevailing causes, motives, justifications and consequences of war in the specific period. The author points out that the use of force in warfare progressively expanded in every subsequent historical epoch, particularly as a result of the development of destructive tools and technologies. Although international customary law imposes limitations on the use of force in warfare, it does not necessarily reduce the scope and the impact of its application.