{"title":"3 Middle East and North Africa","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/23740973.2021.1974249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23740973.2021.1974249","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":126865,"journal":{"name":"Armed Conflict Survey","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122543224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"2 Europe and Eurasia","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/23740973.2021.1974248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23740973.2021.1974248","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":126865,"journal":{"name":"Armed Conflict Survey","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125957522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"6 Sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/23740973.2020.1761624","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23740973.2020.1761624","url":null,"abstract":"Key trends Violence decreased in the conflicts in the Central African Republic, Nigeria (Farmer–Pastoralist), South Sudan and Sudan, while the Sahel registered unprecedented levels of violence and human displacement. Violence also continued in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, the Lake Chad Basin and Somalia. ISIS offshoots are present to varying degrees in multiple conflicts: from ISWAP, the most successful splinter outside the Middle East, to the little-known Central Africa Province in the DRC. The numbers of refugees and IDPs remained high across all conflicts. Ongoing violence prevented effective emergency responses to humanitarian and health crises, including Ebola and measles outbreaks in the DRC. Strategic implications Foreign powers are involved in almost all conflicts in the region. Russia’s increased involvement in the CAR sparked concerns in Washington and Paris. Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda pursued their rivalries through armed groups in the DRC, over which the latter has no control. The ousting of President Omar al-Bashir prompted Western governments to re-engage with Sudan, while Bashir’s traditional allies in the Gulf backed the new transitional government. The US revoked Cameroon’s preferential trade status and withdrew a pledge of military aid. Washington also imposed sanctions on South Sudanese officials. Prospects The implementation of various peace agreements will remain a key challenge across most conflicts because of limited capacity to reintegrate fighters (in the DRC, for example) and fragmentation within negotiating parties (in Cameroon). In Sudan, the consolidation of military power poses risks for a democratic transition and the peace process. The Sahel conflict shows signs of further expansion and threatens coastal West Africa. Somalia’s prospects for a united government are poor. Unrestrained competition between wealthy global powers (of which the country has seen some signs) will exacerbate the problem and prolong the conflict.","PeriodicalId":126865,"journal":{"name":"Armed Conflict Survey","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123278178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editor’s Introduction","authors":"Jane C. Blake","doi":"10.1080/23740973.2020.1761604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23740973.2020.1761604","url":null,"abstract":"once again, as a reminder of the complexity of conflict in the twenty-first century. With each edition, we observe the consolidation of trends highlighted earlier, including the substantial internationalisation of many conflicts, which increasingly often involve regional and international actors that use the battleground to pursue their rivalries. In so doing, stakes often grow higher and the strategic repercussions of events can reverberate much further afield. For each of the 33 conflicts covered, the book provides an overview of the key developments in 2019; the events that led to the current situation; data on the conflict parties involved; the drivers of the conflict; political and military developments; and analysis of the significance of the conflict. Specifically, we delve into the consequences of the major political and military developments for human rights and the humanitarian situation, the social and economic impact of the conflict, and how it has affected relations with neighbouring and international partners. We assess the state of the conflict at the end of 2019, albeit without making predictions, and identify the trends and trajectories that will be most relevant for 2020, including prospects for conflict resolution, risks of conflict intensification or spillover, and scenarios for reconstruction. Each conflict chapter concludes with the strategic implications of the conflict locally and internationally. Complementing the analysis are conflict-specific maps and graphics to illustrate patterns and structures such as violent hotspots, armed-group networks, transitional-government structures and human-displacement data. Snapshots for each of the six geographical regions into which conflicts are organised outline key trends, strategic implications and prospects. We endeavour to underline geopolitical and geostrategic relations and how they intersect with conflict. Examples include what Turkey’s involvement in Syria means for its relationship with NATO; the impact of attacks by Baloch insurgents against Chinese interests on Islamabad–Beijing relations; or how diminishing Western engagement with the Burmese government might create room for China to expand its political influence in Myanmar. The number of situations around the world meeting our definition of armed conflict decreased from 40 in 2015, when the Armed Conflict Survey was first published, to 33 in 2019. This might seem like a marked improvement, but notwithstanding the removal of some conflicts such as Kosovo and the Niger Delta, the current line-up of conflicts also reflects multiple transformations. Since 2015, we have recorded how, owing to changes in the drivers of conflicts and the relationships among armed groups, various conflicts had to be merged – as was the case for India’s northeastern conflicts in the previous edition – while others were split, such as Central America’s Northern Triangle. In addition to these changes, some conflicts have ended, and therefore were","PeriodicalId":126865,"journal":{"name":"Armed Conflict Survey","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127736593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"ISIS Foreign Fighters after the Fall of the Caliphate","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/23740973.2020.1761611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23740973.2020.1761611","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":126865,"journal":{"name":"Armed Conflict Survey","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131601241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Notes on Methodology","authors":"R. A. Pascal, G. Schroepfer","doi":"10.1080/23740973.2020.1761607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23740973.2020.1761607","url":null,"abstract":"The Armed Conflict Survey reviews and analyses the armed conflicts that are active worldwide every year. We define an armed conflict as a sustained military contest between two or more organised actors making purposive use of armed force. The inclusion of a conflict in the book is based on this definition and the methodology detailed below.","PeriodicalId":126865,"journal":{"name":"Armed Conflict Survey","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127812233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}