The shift to domesticated farming, away from nomadic pastorals, led to a clash between these two subsistence patterns. The nomads, facing geographic change and poor food supplies, attempted to make their way down from the hills and take on the agriculturalist. This is the only way the nomads could keep a steady food source. 'Cultures that knew nothing of war suddenly began suffering unprovoked attacks by terrifying strangers.'(13) This shows you the kind of bloodthirsty savages the nomads were, their way of life was changing and they weren't ready for it to change. 'So it is that these voracious ant armies number in the millions, just as major outbreaks of nomadic aggression were characteristically preceded by inertial congregations. If there is strength in n

Lastly the problem with O'Connell's argument is that it is extremely unconvincing. While the title promises an explanation of war, he spends most of the time on the history of war and it's initial outbreaks of warfare around the world, and hardly focuses on the question of war's death, where he gives us but only one small chapter in conclusion.

'Traditionally, Egypt had been quite a different place, avenue where the role of organized conflicts, though hardly nonexistent, was decidedly muted. This factor, combined what an unusually fatuous ecology, would produce a distinctive version of agricultural despotism, a social equation in which the variables arranged themselves to compensate for war's demised function. The result, an entirely more relaxed version of the plant trap, not only provides a useful historical counterpoint but also serves to illustrate the relativity of war and its true identity as nothing more than a social mechanism.'(132) Even early in the book it hints that war is nothing more then an unnecessary way to confront issues that could easily be solved other wise. This is why Egypt becomes one of the Old World strongest centers.

As the book says John Muller put forth the audacious proposition not only that was war obsolete but that it was finished simple because most people had come to find it repulsive and uncivilized. "Like dueling and slavery, war does not appear to be one of life's necessities... War may be a social affixation, but in important respects it is also a social affectation that can be shrugged off."(231) I could not agree with this statement more, war is 'not' a necessity there is no reason for the mass killing of people over land, religion or anything else for that matter. It is purely stupid, all kind be resolved in a much more suitable fashion then in the past.

'Confucius and his fellow sages were not sanguine about the future. They viewed their own society as marching toward perdition, and instead looked back fondly to the Western Chou as a sort of golden era of relative tranquility and goodwill.'(170) Do we look back on ourselves as a global society and do the same or do we linger on what could come about tomorrow.

O'Connell, Robert, Ride of the Second Horseman. Oxford University Press, New York, New York. 1995.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sumer Priest, BC AD, Robert O'Connell, War III, John Muller, Lastly O'Connell's, Western Chou, Cold War, Yuri Andropo's, Egypt World, food sources, demise warfare,
Approximate Word count = 1960
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)