Many of the control mechanisms perfected by the Qin had developed during the preceding 500 years or so of the Eastern Zhou dynasty when a host of small warring states across China began to coalesce.

ECONOMIST: Theories of history

We see straight, ruled lines on a map whether they mark the peaceful states of the American plains or the warring muddles of the Middle East and we know that those lines were drawn by some yawning bureaucrat in a big building in the capital.

NEWYORKER: Faces, Places, Spaces

In 1991, the Soviet Union and the United States agreed to cut off arms supplies to the warring sides in Afghanistan.

CNN: Saturday,

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday peace talks between the warring factions are set to begin October 31 in the United States.

CNN: Bosnia cease-fire delayed again

In 1995, Bosnia's warring sides reached a compromise in Geneva, agreeing to divide the nation into two states: one for the rebel Serbs and another for the Muslims and Croats.

CNN: Sunday,