Warfare does not, of course, spring onto the scene without reason – it is too costly, too dangerous and too risky, quite apart from the social prohibitions normally limiting its use. At least in more modern times, warfare typically erupts when societies are in conflict. Warfare is the ultimate instrument available to social groups to manage conflicts for which non-violent compromises cannot be found. Consequently in this interpretation that approximates reality, the warfare patterns of a time reflect the social conflicts of the time. The religious wars, for example, were not wars engaged in for the sake of warfare, but rather were actions undertaken in an attempt to resolve key conflicting interests. In general warfare will track the most important and intense conflicts of interest of the day.
The consequence is that the attributes of warfare, in particular the issues stated as leading to the warfare, may be employed to track and analyze social trends. It is not necessarily an unbiased track since it is expected that in the usual case it will largely be the most important and intense conflicts that will be manifested in warfare. Nonetheless, because there is a data base available warfare is invaluable as an indicator that may be employed in statistical work to track social events and thinking.
