Mmmh, I did think of the dream/nightmare possibility, but it seemed to obvious to me.
And as I can see so far, The 'close yet far' thing we all agree upon, it's intangible and easy to guess, but we can't since we don't know the meaning of the 2nd sentence.
Also, there is no need to put in spoilers, this isn't my riddle topic .
Death seems possible, but the 'war' thing seems a bit far away from it. Sure in a war there is a lot death, but it doesn't relate to the 'fear'. One may fear death, but how does the opposite, namely the foresight or acknowledgement of death, create war? Unless you're a 'live fast and die young' kinda guy, and you can see your death coming, and therefore create a war, because you have nothing to lose... It seems farfetched to me, but it's still a lot better than my guess