With over 40 armed conflicts now taking place around the world, the costs of warfare are immense and continue to mount with each passing day.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is estimated to have resulted in more than 600,000 Russian casualties, with estimates of total dead and injured on both sides as high as 1 million. The war between Israel and Hamas has resulted in about 140,000 Palestinian and 10,000 Israeli casualties, and there have been at least 50,000 casualties in the ongoing Sudanese Civil War. Closer to home, the newly married son of a colleague of mine suffered grievous injuries and lost all four limbs in an explosion while serving in the Middle East.
The loss of life and limb, violations of human rights, destruction of personal property and damage to infrastructure such as power stations, hospitals and roads render such costs essentially incalculable, at least in monetary terms.
