The number of all-out wars decreased from 20 in 2017 to 16 in 2018, according to the Heidelberg-based researchers. The number of so-called "limited wars," however, surged from 16 to 24.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Delay
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The "Conflict Barometer" published by Heidelberg University's Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK) identified only nine former conflicts as being settled or becoming inactive last year.
Worldwide, 372 conflicts had seethed at varying levels of intensity, the HIIK said, with 213, or 57 percent, fought out violently.
Among the 16 classified as all-out wars were three once-limited wars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): the conflicts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Syria's Afrin region, and between Turkey and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) militia.
The 2018 surge in the number of limited wars — from 16 to 24 — involved the Philippines, Myanmar, Ukraine, Colombia, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Mali, said the HIIK, submitting its 27th study since 1992.
In sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, eight limited wars were counted, "twice as much as the year before."
'Heavy fights' in Mexico
Mexico's drug war, which the HIIK also defined as an all-out war, affected its states of Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Veracruz, and Guanajuato, with its government ''kingpin" strategy of targeting cartel bosses leading to "heavy fights over local predominance."
The HIIK also listed a number of medium intensity "interstate conflicts," including between India and Pakistan and Russia versus the European Union and the United States.
As an example of de-escalation, the HIIK cited South Sudan, saying "several international conferences and agreements" had almost halved the [year-on-year] death toll."
Complex methodology
The 193-page study, compiling input from 220 experts worldwide and overseen by an advisory panel as far afield as Japan, Oslo and Cape Town, looked beyond raw casualty figures.
Ukraine: Casualties of a low-level war
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The HIIK said it regards conflict as a "process" where protagonists or actors perceive incompatible intentions and try to "communicate" with violent means instead of using civil regulatory procedures and court proceedings.
It ranked conflict intensity on a one-to-five scale from "dispute" to all-out war. Weapons are ranked light to heavy; casualties and refugee flows are classified from low to heavy.
Researchers also correlated conflict with other issues, identifying linkages between territory, resources, ideologies, secession and "international power."
Social media impact in Indonesia
In a special note on "online Islamism" and widespread social media usage in Indonesia, the HIIK said local Islamists now "greatly influenced public discourse in political and religious matters."
Their ideas and rejection of democracy had "gained ground not only with isolated, fundamentalist groups, but have also found popularity with a large part of Indonesia's overall population," notably young people.
Potential members were being redirected, said the HIIK, to "closed, private groups" linked by end-to-end encryption where radical ideas circulated, creating a "common identity."
How the Gaza protests against Israel escalated this year
The origin of conflicts in the region could be dated back centuries but this year has seen some key events leading to an escalation in the tension between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.
Image: Reuters/A. Cohen
Palestinian PM Rami Hamdallah targeted
The convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah of the West Bank-based Fatah group was targeted as he made a rare visit to Gaza on March 13. The Palestinian Authority said it held Hamas responsible, having failed to provide adequate security. Hamas claimed the attack was aimed at hurting efforts to achieve unity and reconciliation.
Image: Reuters/I. Abu Mustafa
Land Day march
Some 30,000 Palestinians took part in the first of the demonstrations on March 30, marking Land Day, named for the 1976 Arab protests against Israeli plans to expropriate land. Some demonstrators ran at the border fence and 16 were killed by Israeli troops with others injured, and some dying later.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Hams
Netanyahu: 'We will hurt them'
Speaking on April 9 in the Israeli town of Sderot, near Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We have one clear and simple rule and we seek to express it constantly: If someone tries to attack you — rise up and attack him. We will not allow, here on the Gaza border, them to hurt us. We will hurt them."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Tibbon
Protesters injured
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Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Hams
Boy killed on April 20
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Image: Getty Images/S. Khatib
May 15: US Embassy officially moved to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv
US President Donald Trump's daugher Ivanka is part of the delegation that opened the new US Embassy in Jerusalem. The transfer of the embassy triggered a fresh wave of protests in which 62 people were killed. The deaths have considerably heightened tensions in the area.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
US no longer seen as partner in Middle East negotiations
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Image: Reuters/I. Abu Mustafa
More than 60 people were killed in protests
Palestinians carried away a protester injured on May 15th after demonstrations marking the 70th anniversary of Nakba.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khatib
Palestinian youths run from tear gas
Hamas official Salah al-Bardaweel said on Palestinian television that all but 12 of the dead were members of Hamas. Mahmoud Abbas the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization is planning to pursue a war crimes complaint against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
Image: Reuters/I. Abu Mustafa
Israeli airstrikes pound Hamas military targets in Gaza
Following an increase in cross-border violence in mid-July, Israel pounded Hamas military targets in Gaza, while Palestinian militants fired more than 170 rockets and mortars into Israel. Two Palestinian boys, aged 15 and 16, were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza's health ministry. Three Israelis were injured after a rocket landed on a residential home in the Israeli city of Sderot.
Image: picture-alliance/newscom/I. Mohamad
Israel temporarily closes its Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip
Days later, Israel blocked all fuel and gas transfers through the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip for six days "in light of the continued terrorist attempts of Hamas." Israel's defense ministry said essential food and medicine deliveries would still get through. The crossing had been shuttered to commercial trade a week earlier.
