Men/masculinities, violence/war/militarism: Searching for the obvious connections?

The military is one of the clearest and most obvious arenas of men’s social power, violence, killing and potential violence and killing, in their many guises. It is an understatement to say that men, militarism and the military are historically, profoundly and blatantly interconnected. Many armies and other fi ghting forces of the world have been and still are armies composed exclusively of men, young men and boys. The world of the military and militarism is massive, and men are present throughout. Military matters are urgent and powerful; how militaries, armies and those in them are organized and act are literally matters of life and death. They are specifi - cally geared to the ability, actual and potential, to infl ict violence and other forms of harm. This applies in ‘imperialist wars,' ‘wars of resistance,' ‘Just Wars,' ‘unjust wars,' ‘preemptive wars,' ‘preventative wars,' ‘preclusive interventions,' even ‘peacekeeping.