IRAQ: 21^st Century War
2004
Ref: 549

Arms spending is increasing in every region, there's a new global war on terrorism, the world is strewn with over 60 conflicts.  Sorious Samura, examines how the nature of conflict is changing - from American hi-tech weaponry to home made weapons in little reported local conflicts. 

In the first programme he examines America's military involvements over the past decade in the run-up of a possible conflict with Iraq, and asks whether what has happened in past conflicts could be a warning about the dangers of a campaign to depose Saddam Hussein.  

In the second programme in the series, Samura looks at a very different type of conflict that may become an increasing blight in the 21st Century.  The world is becoming strewn with relatively small, but vicious, atavistic conflicts involving low technology and medieval brutality.  Large parts of the planet risk becoming no-go zones.  As centres of political authority in many areas slip, and contests over land and resources become more intense, the fear is that we are now seeing only the beginning of this trend.