It begins like all stories do.
With silence.
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This is not a history book.
This is NOW.
You can hide it. But you can`t unheart it.
Do you want to hear a story?
I bet no.
This is Lila.
She’s seven.
She draws herself playing with a ball in front of their house.
She even writes her name in the corner of the page — proud, giggling, certain the world is hers.
Then the sky falls.
A bomb rips the roof. The crayons scatter.
Her father puts on a uniform.
And never comes home.
She leaves with her mother.
New cities. New nights. Long roads filled with silence.
The last thing she sees of her country
is soldiers bombing houses that look like hers.
War have faces.
Not monsters.
Not myths.
Not heroes.
Just people — some forced,
some afraid,
some convinced they were doing the right thing.
This is not to forgive.
It's to witness.
Every uniform has a story.
Every bullet has a reason someone believed in.
War doesn’t erase the human behind the weapon.
It only hides the cost.
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
HUMAN
Letters That Were Never Sent
They wrote what they could. Or what they dared.
Most of these words never made it.
Some were lost in fire.
Some in shame.
Some in silence.
But they were written. That’s enough. That’s everything.
You can forget a headline.
But it still happened.
Some places burn.
Others light the match.
It’s not just one war.
It’s dozens.
Not just two sides.
But many hands — funding, fueling, forgetting.
In red: where bombs fall.
In yellow: where they begin.
The world calls it “far away.”
But maps don’t lie.
C
O
S
T
O
F
W
A
R
War isn’t just violence.
It’s a system.
Funded. Voted. Repeated.
While schools closed. While theaters faded.
While peace was called expensive.
46,500,000,000,000
USD
Global military expenditure over the past 25 years has exceeded $46 trillion.
In 2024 alone, the world spent over $2.7 trillion on weapons, armies, and defense — about 2.5% of global GDP.
5,400,000,000,000
USD
In the same period, only about $5.4 trillion was invested globally in culture, arts, and education — a fraction of what was spent on war.
1,100,000
Civilian Casualties
More than 1.1 million civilians lost their lives in armed conflicts worldwide, directly or indirectly, from Afghanistan to Syria, Yemen, and beyond.
120,000,000
Displaced People
As of the end of 2023, more than 120 million people have been forcibly displaced by war — refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons.
Military Spending
Germany
1 116 000 000
France
1 072 000 000
United Kingdom
1 370 000 000
Italy
760 000 000
Spain
492 000 000
Poland
760 000 000
Netherlands
464 000 000
Sweden
240 000 000
Romania
174 000 000
Czech Republic
130 000 000
Greece
160 000 000
Hungary
94 000 000
Finland
140 000 000
Norway
208 000 000
Denmark
200 000 000
Portugal
92 000 000
Belgium
172 000 000
Austria
106 000 000
Ireland
26 000 000
Lithuania
52 000 000
Latvia
28 000 000
Estonia
28 000 000
Slovakia
56 000 000
Slovenia
20 000 000
Croatia
32 000 000
Bulgaria
46 000 000
Serbia
46 000 000
Ukraine
1 294 000 000
Russia
2 980 000 000
Turkey
500 000 000
Culture Spending
Germany
1 200 000 000
France
870 000 000
United Kingdom
960 000 000
Italy
252 000 000
Spain
300 000 000
Poland
160 000 000
Netherlands
200 000 000
Sweden
120 000 000
Romania
70 000 000
Czech Republic
70 000 000
Greece
24 000 000
Hungary
84 000 000
Finland
102 000 000
Norway
100 000 000
Denmark
120 000 000
Portugal
60 000 000
Belgium
120 000 000
Austria
100 000 000
Ireland
55 000 000
Lithuania
33 600 000
Latvia
25 200 000
Estonia
24 200 000
Slovakia
22 000 000
Slovenia
21 000 000
Croatia
32 000 000
Bulgaria
14 400 000
Serbia
16 000 000
Ukraine
18 000 000
Russia
440 000 000
Turkey
180 000 000
When the tanks roll in, the theatres go dark.
Another Side of War doesn’t offer answers.
It asks the questions no one wants to face.
What is the cost of silence?
And who pays it?