Wars down, political disputes up in 2018: Report

EDIRNE, Turkey

While the overall number of wars have declined in 2018, a new report published on Wednesday by a Germany-based conflict research institute indicated that "limited wars" seems to have surged.

The 2018 Conflict Barometer report by the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research showed that conflicts last year were the fewest of the last seven years.

In 2017, there were a total of 385 conflicts worldwide. This figure decreased by 3.38 percent to 372 the following year.

Over 213 of these conflicts, were fought violently, while 150 were characterized as non-violent political conflicts.

The overall number of "full-scale wars" decreased from 20 in 2017 to 16 the following year, while limited wars increased from 16 to 24.

On a five-level scale indicating the intensity of a conflict -- from disputes to non-violent crises, violent crises, limited wars and wars – the report showed that many major struggles maintained their level of intensity.

These included the wars in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, the Central African Republic, Somalia, and Nigeria, or, for instance, the limited wars in Brazil, Colombia, and the Philippines.

As in previous years, the report indicated that violent crises occurring within a country such as the opposition conflicts in Venezuela or Nicaragua continued.

Moreover, non-violent conflicts between states, for instance between the U.S. and Russia or between India and Pakistan, have also been a "central determinant" of 2018.

Finally, peace initiatives, for instance between Greece and Macedonia, in Ethiopia, or in South Sudan, aimed to pave the way for more "peaceful future relations" among the parties involved.

139 conflicts stemmed from ideological differences and problems arising from the administrative systems of states, according to the report.