The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse- Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death- rode together during the 20th century to bring war, disease, and starvation to the world. It is estimated that around 88 million people perished as a result of the two world wars, with over half of the dead of WWII being civilians. The war machine residing over the world was anything but humane. It is interesting then that just a few decades later there is growing debate about how war can be made humane, with many proponents of the idea that it has already become more humane. This essay will first raise the question of what it means to be humane and will give a general definition of war, because the definitions you take of those terms can greatly affect your answer. It will assess popular arguments about humane warfare, including the increased value of human life and new technology, which have been said to have made war more humane. It will conclude, however, that although countries of the West may have adopted such characteristics, this is essentially asymmetrical because adversaries of the West do not tend to play by the same rules. Therefore, although war can be made more humane, it is not easy to say to what extent that will happen.…