IISS study finds there are 183 regional and local conflicts underway in 2023, the highest number in 30 years.
The intensity of conflict has risen year on year, with fatalities increasing by 14% and violent events by 28% in the latest survey.
The International Committee of the Red Cross catalogues 459 armed groups whose activities provoke humanitarian concerns, with 195 million people living under their full or partial control.
Ukraine remains, unsurprisingly, the most violent place on the planet, but Syria, Brazil, Myanmar, Mexico and Iraq are also riven.
The numbers of refugees displaced by war are stunning: more than six million in Syria, five million in Afghanistan, a million in Myanmar.
Source: Bloomberg
📝🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 - On the Brink: Showdown in the Middle East
Amid an escalating American buildup, it’s clear Witkoff’s list of demands is more of a request for surrender. Accepting the abolition of its nuclear program and limitations on its ballistic missile force would leave Iran powerless to defend itself in any future conflict, which is the entire point of asking for these “concessions”. This demarche is a poison pill meant to justify further action when Iran rightly refuses it or, should they be foolish enough to actually accept it, will make the job of Israel and the U.S. easier when they inevitably tear up any agreement to conduct strikes anyway. The goal here for Tel Aviv and Washington isn’t peace and anybody who thinks they actually care about protesters needs to get their head checked; they want a final showdown with Iran to remove it as an obstacle to themselves in the Middle East.
For those that don’t remember, in the lead up to the 12 Day War last year...