War News Updates: world conflicts

Showing posts with label world conflicts. Show all posts

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Here Are 5 Global Flashpoints That Could Explode In Early 2023

End Of The American Dream: 5 Global Flashpoints Which Could Absolutely Explode During The Early Stages Of 2023

Will 2023 be a year when extremely destructive conflicts erupt all over the world? We are certainly already living in a time of “wars and rumors of wars”, and tensions are approaching the boiling point in a number of key global flashpoints right now. If several more major conflicts were to suddenly begin next year, we could potentially witness an extended period of geopolitical instability that would be unlike anything that we have ever witnessed. It is easy to start wars, but it is much harder to end them. If you doubt this, just look at what is going on in Ukraine. There is no end in sight for that conflict, and there are several other wars that could literally erupt at any time. The following are 5 global flashpoints which could absolutely explode during the early stages of 2023…

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WNU Editor: The five conflicts/flashpoints are Ukraine, Iran, Taiwan, Serbia, and the China - India border. The number one conflict/flashpoint that has all of my attention is the Russia - Ukraine war.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Is The U.S. Now The Most Unpredictable 'Actor' In The World Today?

Center for Preventive Action / Council on Foreign Relations

Uri Friedman and Annabelle Timsit, The Atlantic: Global Conflicts to Watch in 2018

“The U.S. is now the most unpredictable actor in the world today.”

As conflicts ignite and burn and flicker out around the world, U.S. officials assess the dangers they represent back home. Not all of these conflicts directly threaten American interests, which is why the Council on Foreign Relations conducts an annual survey to help U.S. leaders prioritize threats in the year ahead. For the past decade, this survey has focused on the risks posed to America by foreign actors. Now it’s reckoning with the risks America poses to the world—and to itself.

“The U.S. is now the most unpredictable actor in the world today, and that has caused profound unease,” said Paul Stares, the director of CFR’s Center for Preventive Action, which produces the annual survey. “You used to be able to pretty much put the U.S. to one side and hold it constant, and look at the world and consider where the biggest sources of unpredictability, insecurity are. Now you have to include the U.S. in that. … No one has high confidence how we [Americans] would react in any given situation, given how people assess this president.” This president might welcome the development. “I don’t want people to know exactly what I’m doing—or thinking,” Donald Trump wrote in 2015. “It keeps them off balance.”

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WNU Editor: So among foreign policy experts .... many now see the U.S. (i.e. President Trump) as the most unpredictable actor in the world today. That is quite a mental leap .... when one looks at the multiple wars and conflicts that the U.S. sees itself in the world today .... wars and conflicts that President Trump inherited.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Mexico Is The Second Deadliest Country In The World After Syria

CNN: Mexico was second deadliest country in 2016

(CNN)It was the second deadliest conflict in the world last year, but it hardly registered in the international headlines.

As Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan dominated the news agenda, Mexico's drug wars claimed 23,000 lives during 2016 -- second only to Syria, where 50,000 people died as a result of the civil war.

"This is all the more surprising, considering that the conflict deaths [in Mexico] are nearly all attributable to small arms," said John Chipman, chief executive and director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which issued its annual survey of armed conflict on Tuesday.

"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed 17,000 and 16,000 lives respectively in 2016, although in lethality they were surpassed by conflicts in Mexico and Central America, which have received much less attention from the media and the international community," said Anastasia Voronkova, the editor of the survey.

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More News On Mexico Being The Second Deadliest Country In The World After Syria

Mexico is the world’s bloodiest country after Syria -- AFP
Mexico's drug-war death toll in 2016 reportedly exceeded murder levels in many countries mired in war -- Business Insider/Reuters
Mexico's 2016 murder tally second only to war-torn Syria -- The Independent
Mexico now considered second deadliest conflict zone after Syria, study says -- FOX News
Mexico's homicide rate now at level of armed conflict: Report -- UPI
Drug War Turned Mexico Into World’s Deadliest Conflict Zone After Only Syria: Survey -- Newsweek
Syria, Mexico World's Deadliest Conflict Zones, Report Says -- VOA
Mexico Surpasses Afghanistan and Iraq As The World’s Second-Deadliest Conflict Zone -- Task & Purpose

Monday, December 12, 2016

These Are The Global Conflicts To Watch In 2017

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic: Global Conflicts to Watch in 2017

The greatest unknown for U.S. interests in the world might be the United States itself.

Over the last several years, concern about a particular threat to the United States has been steadily rising in a survey of American foreign-policy experts and government officials by the Council on Foreign Relations. On an annual basis, hundreds of respondents estimate the likelihood and impact on U.S. interests of 30 possible conflicts in the coming year. These conflicts are then divided into three tiers of risk to the United States or its closest allies. The poll is an attempt to help U.S. policymakers prioritize dangers in a dangerous world.

In the 2013 and 2014 surveys, respondents wrote in the potential for Russia to interfere in former Soviet states including the Baltic countries, which, like the United States, are members of NATO. In 2015, the scenario appeared for the first time among the survey’s 30 “contingencies,” with an “unintentional or deliberate military confrontation” between Russia and NATO member states regarded as a second-tier risk. This year it was considered a first-tier risk, according to the latest survey, released Monday. A conflict in 2017 between one of the world’s most powerful militaries and the world’s most powerful military alliance was judged moderately likely and high-impact.

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WNU Editor: I predicted no major Russia - West military engagement last year .... and I certainly do not see it happening in 2017. The region that I am most worried about is the Middle East and ion what is happening in Afghanistan.

Monday, February 29, 2016

A Map That Shows 4,500 Years of Global Conflict

Sputnik: Map of World War Shows 4,500 Years of Global Conflict

Users of Wikipedia have created an interactive map that illustrates where all the wars documented since 2500 BC have taken place around the world.

Data from Wikipedia has been used to put together a map of the world's wars since 2500 BC, that illustrates where and when the world's conflicts have occurred.

A group of researchers took information from DBpedia in a community effort to extract structured information from Wikipedia and make it available on the web.

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Update: This Shocking Map of Battles Throughout History Isn't Even Close to Complete (Gizmodo)

WNU Editor: This is an excellent idea, but there are still a few bugs. The full version is here.

Friday, December 19, 2014

A Look At The Global Conflicts That Matter To The U.S.

Center for Preventive Action/Council on Foreign Relations

The Global Conflicts To Watch In 2015 -- Uri Friedman, The Atlantic

A survey shows which countries matter more to U.S. policymakers—and which matter less

Foreign policy often involves making difficult and debatable choices about which parts of the world matter more to a given country—and which, by extension, matter less. It's about defining national interests and determining where those interests are most evident and endangered. This is why the United States has done far more to stop ISIS in Syria and Iraq than, say, sectarian war in the Central African Republic.

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My Comment: I expect more countries will be added to this list as 2015 unfolds.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

10 Of The Most Dangerous Places In The World Right Now

To prevent Islamists from seizing control of the nation of 16 million people and using it as a base to launch attacks on neighboring African countries and the West, France launched airstrikes in Mali in January. Though many of their leaders were killed, conflict continues.

Image by JOE PENNEY / Reuters

WNU Editor: The link is here. I would also add the Caucasus, Sudan, Libya, Nigeria, Iraq, Venezuela, parts of Colombia, parts of Burma, the southern Muslim provinces of Thailand, and a few U.S. urban centers (i.e. Oakland, Chicago, etc.).

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Violent Conflicts That Barely Register In The West

From The Times Online:

Narathiwat and Jolo are not names that normally impinge upon the Western consciousness. The former is a humid tropical town close to Thailand’s border with Malaysia; the latter a jungle island in the southernmost reaches of the Philippines.

Even the most intrepid foreign tourists rarely visit them; if either was to disappear off the face of the earth it would make little material difference to the people of the rich West. But both should be better known, for the violence and instability with which they threaten places with far more famous names.

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My Comment: The other conflicts that barely register are the wars in the Caucasus, India's Maoist insurgency, Iran's conflict with many of its minorities, Yemen's civil war, most of Africa, and parts of South America that are not drug related. There is also the IRA, ETA, and God knows what else in Europe.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Germany To Advocate ‘World Risk Map’

(Map from Political Geography/University of Colorado)

From The Financial Times:

German chancellor Angela Merkel is set to push international leaders to draw up a “world risk map” of global financial institutions to allow financial authorities to quickly identify future trouble spots.

Unveiling the findings of a government-commissioned expert panel on Friday Mrs Merkel also proposed the creation a central body to oversee credit ratings agencies, an international register of major loans and the better alignment of managers’ pay to discourage short-term risk taking.

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My Comment: This is a good idea. There are numerous maps of the world that ranks conflicts and wars .... the same can be done for financial and economic risks.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Wars, Terrorism, And Violence Are Going Out Of Style -- A Summary Of The World's Conflicts

From The Strategy Page:

July 19, 2008: While the mass media continues to feature wars and terrorism, the overall trend continues away from such unpleasantness. Such stories are anathema to the mass media, because they do not attract eyeballs, and revenue. That's the way people are, and the result is a distorted view of trends in global violence.

Worldwide, violence continues to decline, as it has for the last few years. Violence has also greatly diminished, or disappeared completely, in places like Iraq, Nepal, Chechnya, Congo, Indonesia and Burundi. Even Afghanistan, touted as the new war zone, is seeing less violence this year than last.

All this continues a trend that began when the Cold War ended, and the Soviet Union no longer subsidized terrorist and rebel groups everywhere. The current wars are basically uprisings against police states or feudal societies, which are seen as out-of-step with the modern world. Many are led by radicals preaching failed dogmas (Islamic conservatism, Maoism), that still resonate among people who don't know about the dismal track records of these movements.

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My Comment: As people become more educated, the attraction of fundamentalist or extreme philosophies/ideologies/or nationalistic goals declines. Opening up the world via the internet has also helped in making people sensitive to different cultures, economies, political systems, the importance of legal institutions, and what does it take for a successful society to function.