Converse of object

• provoke: But it is seldom realized that the US and Britain have largely provoked the civil war now that is raging across central Iraq.

• prevent: The last excuse for the occupation was that at least it prevented civil war, but this it very visibly is not doing.

• threaten: Sure of Moscow and the CP de Gaulle threatened civil war.

• avoid: In Burma and Nigeria today, civil resistance offers the one slim hope of avoiding all-out civil war and new killing fields.

Adjective modifier

• brutal: Millions of guns from all over the world ended up in Mozambique during its brutal civil war.

• all-out: In Burma and Nigeria today, civil resistance offers the one slim hope of avoiding all-out civil war and new killing fields.

• Afghan: The Afghan civil war will continue into the foreseeable future, leaving the country fragmented and unstable.

• violent: Overseas wars rarely touched British shores; even violent civil wars passed most civilians by unless they were very unlucky.

• open: But there is no doubt that the possibility of episodes of violence, verging on open civil war is more likely.

Preposition: in

• part: Civil wars in parts of the empire further weakened the rule of Rome and respect for Roman law dwindled as a result.