The geography of conflict
Conflict today
This lesson looks at the difference between war and conflict and where conflict is happenig in the world.
Key questions:
- What is conflict?
- What conflicts am I aware of?
- What is the pattern of conflict in the world today?
Key concepts:
Place
Space
Scale
What is the difference between a ‘conflict' and a ‘war'? Does it matter and do we need to distinguish between the two?
Conflict can be defined as a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. War is a conflict among political groups involving hostilities of considerable duration and magnitude. In addition, the UN defines ‘major wars' as conflicts inflicting over 1000 battle deaths in a year. Therefore war can also be described as a conflict but conflict may not necessarily be described as a war. These definitions suggest that war is on a larger scale to conflict, both in terms of casualties, area involved and time engaged. Whilst it may not matter superficially whether a conflict is termed a conflict or a war, it is obviously more politically advantageous to be on the losing side of a conflict than on the losing side of a war.
The pattern of conflict in the world is uneven. As of mid 2005 there were 8 major wars in the world (a reduction from 15 in 2003) and approximately 24 other conflicts of varying degrees of intensity. Most of these are civil wars where the victims are mostly civilians. In World War I less than 5% of the casualties were civilians however, today the figure is nearer 75%. Most wars today are concentrated in Africa, the continent has seen over 20 civil wars since 1960.
For further information and full reports and PowerPoints covering a number of different conflicts, visit the World Conflicts Today website. Alternatively, a map showing current conflict in the world can be viewed on the Global Security website.
Click on an activity:
Interactive:
Downloads:
Describing patterns on a map ppt
Useful link