"There is always a fuse".....hmmm. In an Iraqi hut? The fuse is quite likely to be their equivalent of a 6" nail, I would have thought. I have known such things to be used as fuses in France...so I certainly wouldn't consider applying a penknife to a 220v circuit anywhere. Insulated cutters, maybe. 220v is more than enough to kill you, and you only need less than an amp of AC to be lethal. 30mA can bring on fibrillation.
If you short circuit the live and neutral, then you're bound to blow something, somewhere...but you'd better be certain not to touch the live before the neutral or else the live voltage will send the current through your little pink body to earth...and that'll give you more than 30mA for sure. If you are lucky, the muscular contraction will move you away from the current source...if not, it can make you grasp it so hard you can't let go and then you are really in trouble. This is why you should always touch anything you suspect of being "live" with the back of your fingers...then the contraction will close your fist and disconnect you.
As Pontius says, low votages can be just as dangerous if the current is high enough. Years ago, in a telephone exchange (which used to run on 50v DC supplied by humungous great lead acid accumulators) a colleague short circuited the main busbar with a pair of pliers; a loud bang, and they melted!