ABSTRACT
War leaves an indelible imprint on social life, shaking the confidence and trust of those who survive. Civil wars perhaps especially have substantial effects on interpersonal relationships, since there are few options to externalize the responsibility for the perpetration of violence. Soldiers and others who support war efforts routinely construct the enemy as the Other, but in civil war, those who instigate terror, raze villages, rape, torture, and wage war may be neighbors or family members, driven by ideological differences, political and economic grievances, structural inequalities, greed for power or anger at their powerlessness. Internationally and within nations, war and other civil violence and terrorism have profound effects on population health and medical care, food supplies, disease transmission, and the health of health providers, civilians, and soldiers. This has become a growing field of interest and urgency for medical anthropologists.
