It is generally understood that that there is a direct correlation between civilized society and a propensity for cooperation and peace over confrontation and violent conflict, both in domestic affairs and in international relations. Under the influence of democratic and liberal theories of perpetual peace, this leads to the assumption that the spread of civilization around the globe will hasten the cause of international order and world peace. This article challenges that orthodoxy on the back of a misunderstanding about the nature of the relationship between civilization and war. Turning the generally accepted “civilization equals peace” equation on its head, this article demonstrates a dramatically different relationship between civilizing processes and war, or civilization and war.