It's a big world out there, but what's going on around the world can feel closer to us and more accessible than ever. Information about wars and conflicts on the other side of the world can be in our homes and on our tablets and smartphones instantly. Whether or not your country is directly involved in a conflict or war, nearly every disagreement, every standoff, every war affects our lives in some way. With so many conflicts happening around the world, it makes you wonder - Why Do We Fight?

Why Do We Fight? is an important, topical book that helps readers aged 12 and up to understand that while conflict may be inevitable, war isn't. The reader is shown how small disagreements can escalate to become bigger and more serious ones, by exposing the common elements of conflict: such as prejudice, history, geography and economics. The reader is encouraged to compare world conflicts with the ones in their own lives, to better understand why we fight and, most importantly, what we can do to avoid it.

There are 80 pages in this book. This is an encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is a book or numbered set of books containing authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically by headword or classified in some manner. An entry may be signed or unsigned, with or without illustration or a list of references for further reading. Headwords and text are usually revised periodically for publication in a new edition. In a multivolume encyclopedia, any indexes are usually located at the end of the last volume. Encyclopedias may be general (example: Encyclopedia Americana) or specialized, usually by subject (Encyclopedia of Bad Taste) or discipline (Encyclopedia of Social Work). This book was published 2014 by Hachette Children's Group .

The author, Niki Walker, is constantly curious about what's happening in the world and why. She has written over twenty books for young people. She has also contributed to projects for CBC, Oxford University Press, McGraw-Hill Ryerson and more. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

This book has the following chapters:

• 1: What is conflict?
• 1: Why do conflicts come up?
• 1: Dividing lines
• 1: Co-operation or combat?
• 1: Making peace
• 1: Making sense of conflicts
• 1: What do you think?
• 1: Bibliography
• 1: Index and further information