Whether sanctioned by an established state or incited by a loosely organized civilian group, whether started for an alleged noble cause or pure community survival, war is an extremely violent, chaotic, unpredictable, and traumatic series of local and large-scale struggles for power with long-term intergenerational, environmental, and communal repercussions. Both the causes and effects for any war are never simple or clearly defined, nor are they always easily understood. Every culture has its own strong mythos about the purpose and glory of war, and it can be difficult to try to make sense of the reality of war with the ideals, principles, and propaganda of those beliefs.
