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Following on from the crime of cattle stealing and the conflicts it has caused (e.g. on the Mexican border), this section is devoted to conflicts and states of war. As there can be no declaration of war and no peace treaty without translation, this chapter illustrates the episodes in colonial history which have "changed the world" through clashes of cultures and language unawareness. The question of "possession" is featured in thematic progression starting from the first European "possession" in the New World, with due emphasis on salient factors, such as ethics, ideology and cultural systems. Questions of legal concepts in emerging nations and how they are interwoven in the dynamics of Western imperial hegemony are highlighted. The chapter has a section on translating the translations of declarations of war and peace treaties, emphasizing linguistic ambiguity and manipulation, from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor, from WW1 to WW2. Translation of UN resolutions has resulted in conflict due to the ambiguous translation of an "article," i.e. "the." Words and graphic markers may influence the course of international relations and cause unending tensions.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-14271-5_5

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