This file documents the contents of the dataset presented in "Onset of Armed Conflict: A New List for the period 1946–2004, with Applications". This paper expands on the Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset (Gleditsch et al. 2001) and presents a consistent and inclusive list of armed conflict onsets. The new definition of onsets is different from alternative spesifications in that two of elements of the definition are left to the user to decide: The casualty threshold and the minimium intermittency period.

The dataset consists of several different files:

[Annual Onset]:
This file is based on a dataframe consisting of yearly observations of all countries listed as independent members of the international system by Gleditsch & Ward (1999). 

GWwno: Gleditsch-Ward Country Number.
Year: Year of observation
Onset2-Onset9: The onset variable. The number terminating the variable name indicates the intermittency threshold, i.e. how many years of inactivity there must be between two different observations of active conflict before a new onset is coded. The value on each of these variables indicate which threshold category the observation belongs to.

3: At least one year saw more than 1000 Battle-Related Deaths.
2: A total of more than 1000 BRD where observed over the total spell of the conflict, but single year alone crossed this threshold.
1: The conflict in total did not cause more than 1000 BRD
0: No onset (Control Category).

[Calendar-Time Onset]:

The Calendar-Time file is based on a data structure where all countries independent at the time are sampled on the day where one of them experience a conflict onset. 

GWwno: Gleditsch-Ward Country Number.
eventdate: Date of the event. In case of several events on the same day, a fraction 0.1 is added to the date
startnd: Number of days since 1. 1. 1946
endnd: Number of days since 1. 1. 1946 + 0.1
year: The year in which the observation took place.
primkey_country: Primary Key for merging with country-year data
primkey_conflict: : Primary Key for merging with conflict-year data	
conflict_id: The ID of the conflict. The first three digits are shared with Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Data ID-codes, while the last digit is shared with the Gates & Strand (2006) duration recode.
onset: Indicating which observations that experience onsets.
intermittent_period_1: The length of the intermittency period for all conflicts 
intermittent_period_2: The length of the intermittency period for level 2+3
intermittent_period_3: The length of the intermittency period for Wars only (level 3)	
incompatibility: The incompatibility of the onset causing the snapshot (1: Territory; 2: Government)
internationalized: Whether foreign governments where involved in the conflict causing the snapshot. (3: Intrastate conflict; 4: Internationalized Instrastate Conflict)
intensity: The Uppsala/PRIO intensity codes are defined as follows: 

3: At least one year saw more than 1000 Battle-Related Deaths.
2: A total of more than 1000 BRD where observed over the total spell of the conflict, but single year alone crossed this threshold.
1: The conflict in total did not cause more than 1000 BRD
0: No onset (Control Category).


[Events_Char]:

This file contains dates of all relevant events, and the two preceeding files are built on the information provided here.

GWwno: Gleditsch-Ward Country Number.
new_id: The ID of the conflict. The first three digits are shared with Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Data ID-codes, while the last digit is shared with the Gates & Strand (2006) duration recode.
old_id: The Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Data ID-code.
period: If the conflict has had spells of inactivity, this variable lists which active period the event refers to.
year: The year in which the event took place.
event_date: The date of the event.
event_type: Codes 1-4 identify what type of event that took place: See Gates & Strand (2006) for more details. 

1: Major Start Date: Date of first fatality
2: Minor Start Date: Date of the complete fullfillment of all Uppsala criteria.
3: Minor End Date: The last day of fighting before a period of inactivity (i.e. either a temporarily or permanent drop below the intensity threshold)
4: Major End Date: Last day of fatalities, alternatively the date of a peace accord or the day of a complete military victory.

Incompability: The incompatibility of the onset causing the snapshot (1: Territory; 2: Government)
Type: Whether foreign governments where involved in the conflict causing the snapshot. (3: Intrastate conflict; 4: Internationalized Instrastate Conflict)
Intensity: The Uppsala/PRIO intensity codes are defined as follows: 


[International System]:

A copy of the Gleditsch/Ward (1999) System Membership table.


The Stata files are made according to the Stata 8.0 Standard edition.

References:

Gleditsch, Kristian S., and Michael D. Ward, 1999. “Interstate System Membership: A Revised List of the Independent States since 1816.” International Interactions 25:393–413.
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, Peter Wallensteen, Mikael Eriksson, Margareta Sollenberg, and Håvard Strand, 2002. “Armed conflict 1946-2001: A new dataset.”, Journal of Peace Research 39 (5): 615–37.
Gates, Scott G., and Håvard Strand, 2006. “Modeling the Duration of Civil Wars: Measurement and Estimation Issues.”, unpublished paper.