Conclusion

"If you have no more to tell us than that one barbarian succeeded another on the banks of the Oxus or Ixartes, what use are you to the public?"
VOLTAIRE

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I started the conclusion to Volume 1 with the above quote, and do so again for the powerful reminder it gives us that there is little merit in merely recounting history. In order for the true benefit of the work of the contributing authors to be realised, it is necessary to demonstrate the so what.

One of the many benefits of a comparative study methodology is the research gains with extra datasets. Volume 2 has provided an additional seven cultures through which the 'golden thread' can be traced through. These norms of war, moreover, provide valuable non-Western insights into modem issues that European cultural developments did not have the opportunity to grow towards. There are many different concepts that can be covered: the power of law as a weapon; how the laws of war can evolve in the face of the dated Mediterranean concept of peace and war. Yet this Chapter will focus on one topic that seems to have escaped debate so far but is increasingly important in an area of spectrum of competition: whether the laws of war unnecessarily promote suffering through legitimising war.