Trends in Armed Conflict, 1946–2014

Headlines from battlefields in Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine give the impression that the world is becoming ever more violent. Indeed, since 2013 the number of armed conflicts in the world and the number of battle deaths has risen. Fortunately, the long-term trends nevertheless driving the waning of war are still at work.

• Since the Korean War, battle casualties have been declining.
• As a result of the civil wars in Syria and Iraq, casualties have risen to the highest level in 25 years, but are still far below levels of the Cold War.
• The number of conflicts has also risen in 2013 and 2014, although much lower than those in the early 90s.

Read more in a Policy Brief from the Conflict Trends Project at PRIO.