“The Hurt Locker” (2008), directed by Kathryn Bigelow, is one of the most critically acclaimed Iraq War films. This 6-time Oscar-winning film follows a team of American military EODs (explosive ordnance disposal technicians) as they wage a seemingly endless war against insurgents' improvised explosive devices. This conflict began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein, and ended in 2011 following a decline in violence and a gradual reduction in American military presence. This film is praised for its accurate depiction of the Iraq conflict, and while it aligns with several scholarly characteristics of modern conflict, such as the “conflict trap” and hot climates, there are some places where it diverges. In his novel “The Bottom Billion,” Paul Collier outlines four “traps” that countries can fall into that perpetuate their poverty and put them at greater risk of conflict. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In “The Hurt Locker,” one feature that aligns with contemporary conflict is the “conflict trap.” Sometimes considered the most dangerous of the four “traps,” it involves a repeated pattern of violence and warfare (civil war and war with other nations). The film is set in Iraq, a state with no shortage of violence and conflict within it. history. Since 1917, Iraq has gone through occupations, civil wars, international wars, national uprisings, coups and wars with other countries. These ongoing crises leave behind a society that continually suffers the consequences and creates the conditions for future conflicts. Examples of such conditions include improved organizational capacity for warfare, weakened political institutions, and economic destabilization. According to Collier, the structural characteristic of a nation's violent history not only can be a strong predictor of future conflict, but implies a cycle of perpetual conflict and violence. Another feature of the conflict seen in the film, as highlighted by scholars, concerns the climate. According to a study by Soloman et al., “deviations from warm temperatures systematically, often substantially, increase the risk of conflict.” The study results found that warmer temperatures increased the frequency of violence and conflict by up to 14%. In each of the 27 societies studied, conflicts responded more consistently to temperature, highlighting the positive relationship between high temperatures and increased violence. “The Hurt Locker” is set in Iraq, a Middle Eastern country that has a mostly desert climate. where temperatures can reach 44°C. This structural feature of contemporary conflict is in line with the correlation between high temperatures and conflict. However, there are some features of the film that are not in line with the central aspects of the contemporary conflict. One of these characteristics is that Iraq is landlocked. Collier says one of the factors that exposes a nation to a very high risk of civil war and conflict is whether it is landlocked and has so-called “bad neighbors.” That is, if a landlocked country borders countries that have poor transportation routes, transportation costs to and from the sea for the landlocked nation depend solely on the quality and cost of infrastructure in the neighboring country. In a sense, they are victims of their neighboring neighbors. In the case of the Iraq conflict, this characteristic is not a factor that increases the risk of.