Major Episodes of Political Violence
1946-2019

Compiled by Dr. Monty G. Marshall
Director, Center for Systemic Peace

This Web page was last updated on April 30, 2020

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The following table lists 334 episodes of armed conflict (including 36 ongoing cases) that comprise a comprehensive accounting of all forms of major armed conflicts in the world over the contemporary period: 1946-2019 (12 cases of foreign direct interventions, "FDI events," are listed separately but not counted as separate episodes; see notes 4 and 6 below). "Major episodes of political violence" involve at least 500 "directly-related" fatalities and reach a level of intensity in which political violence is both systematic and sustained (a base rate of 100 "directly-related deaths per annum"). Episodes may be of any general type: inter-state, intra-state, or communal; they include all episodes of international, civil, ethnic, communal, and genocidal violence and warfare. Episodes are coded on a scale of one to ten according to an assessment of the full impact of their violence on the societies that directly experience their effects. The effects of political violence and warfare include fatalities and casualties, resource depletion, destruction of infrastructure, and population dislocations, among other things such as the psychological trauma to individuals and adverse changes to the social psychology and political culture of affected social identity groups. The resulting categories represent standardized event magnitudes based on levels of societal affect (i.e., a measure of the general magnitude that a society's normal networking and functioning is affected by violent disruption); the scaled categories are considered comparable and standardized units of measurement. Global and regional trends in warfare are visualized graphically by aggregating the coded scores for all ongoing episodes of major armed conflict in a given year; see the CSP Conflict Trends page. For a more detailed explanation of the coding methodology, click here.

Cases highlighted in red were ongoing in early-2020 (25 cases); ongoing cases highlighted in orange have diminished substantially in magnitude during the six months immediately prior to the most recent update and may be ending (11 cases). All episodes that are denoted as having ended within the past five years (i.e., since January 2015) are highlighted in yellow; these cases are considered at high risk of return to warfare (8 cases).

Note that several revisions were made to the list in regard to episodes in Africa. A thorough re-examination of the case list for African countries was conducted under the auspices of a Summer 2005 contract with the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the African Conflict Prevention Pool for a study and report on "Conflict Trends in Africa." The final report was delivered in October 2005; a full copy of the report, including seven data annexes, is available on the CSP Web site. Click here to view the CSP Africa analysis or download the report in PDF format.

Note also that several revisions were made to the list in regard to cases that previously had been included with unknown "estimates of directly-related deaths" (denoted "na"). As new sources of information have become available in recent years, and particularly with the expansion of Keesings Online news archives, all episodes listed as "unknown" were investigated in early 2009 to confirm or disconfirm their listing. As a result, several episodes have been delisted and some others were refined. All episodes listed now include an estimate of directly-related deaths (Death). For a detailed accounting of these changes, please contact the Center for Systemic Peace.

The variables listed in the "Major Episodes of Political Violence" table are as follows:

Inclusive years (Begin and End): The beginnings and endings of most political violence episodes are difficult to determine exactly; various researchers "pinpoint" and denote various dates. The "begin" and "end" years listed for each episode (below) are those considered by the author to be those most likely to capture the transformative "moments" (beginning and ending) of the episodes, according to a comparison of the varying claims of the sources noted. No "end" year is listed for episodes that began and ended in the same year.

Episode type (Type): Episode type is listed according to two character codes. The first character denotes either a (C)ivil-intrastate involving rival political groups; (E)thnic-intrastate involving the state agent and a distinct ethnic group; or (I)nternational event-interstate, usually two or more states, but may denote a distinct polity resisting foreign domination (colonialism). The second character connotes either an episode of (V)iolence-the use of instrumental violence without necessarily exclusive goals; (W)ar-violence between distinct, exclusive groups with the intent to impose a unilateral result to the contention; or i(N)dependence-an attempt to forcibly remove an existing foreign domination.

Magnitude of societal-systemic impact (Mag): The rationale and methodology for assessing the societal and systemic impact of warfare episodes is discussed and described in detail in the accompanying text. The number listed represents a scaled indicator of the destructive impact, or magnitude, of the violent episode on the directly-affected society or societies on a scale of 1 (smallest) to 10 (greatest). Magnitude scores reflect multiple factors including state capabilities, interactive intensity (means and goals), area and scope of death and destruction, population displacement, and episode duration. Scores are considered to be consistently assigned (i.e., comparable) across episode types and for all states directly involved. For a more detailed explanation of the coding scheme used, click here.

Episode location (States Directly Involved): Countries listed are only those upon whose territory the political violence episode actually takes place, that is, those state-societies directly affected by the warfare. Countries intervening in the episodes are not listed as the violence does not take place on their territory and, so, these intervening actors are considered to be indirectly, or remotely, affected by the violence.

Estimates of "directly-related" deaths (Deaths): Accountings of the number of deaths resulting directly from an episode of political violence are difficult to determine and estimates often vary widely. This difficulty is especially problematic as the distinction between combatants and non-combatants has grown increasingly obscure as "less formal" civil conflict interactions in less institutionalized societal systems predominate in the contemporary era. As argued in the text, such estimates of "battle-related deaths" should be regarded simply as estimates of the general magnitude of the violence. The numbers listed here reflect the median or mean of often widely disparate estimates listed in the various sources and are provided solely as a referent point. Casualties among non-combatants directly related to the violent conflict are inconsistently estimated (if at all) in the various source estimates. Far more problematic than "battle-related deaths" for societal systems are the much larger numbers of persons directly and indirectly, physically and psychologically, distorted and disturbed by violence during episodes of armed conflict (for this we have no estimation procedure).

MAJOR EPISODES OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE, 1946-2019*
Begin	End	Type	Mag	States Directly Involved	Brief Description	Deaths	References
1945	1946	IN	2	Indonesia	Independence	10000	a b c f g h
1945	1947	EV	2	Iran	Azerbaijani and Kurd rebellions	2000	c f g
1945	1949	CW	5	Greece	Greek civil war	150000	a b c f g h o
1945	1954	IN	6	Vietnam	Indochina independence	500000	a b c f g h
1946	1954	IW*	2	France⁴	Indochina independence (FDI event)	30000	a b c f g h
1946	*	CV	1	Bolivia	President Villarroel ousted by general armed uprising	1000	c f o
1946	1947	IN	2	Algeria	Setif/AML Rebellion	6000	p
1946	1948	EW	6	India Pakistan	"Partition"--Muslims vs Hindus/Sikhs	1000000	a b c d f g
1946	1950	CW	6	China	Chinese civil war	1000000	a b c f h o
1947	*	IV	1	China	Taiwan invasion	1000	a c h o
1947	*	CW	3	China	Repression of Taiwan dissidents	20000	a c e f
1947	*	CV	1	Paraguay	Paraguay Civil War "Febrerista Insurrection"	1500	a c f h o
1947	1948	CV	1	Yemen AR	Civil violence (Yahya clan coup attempt)	5000	a c h o
1947	1948	IN	4	Madagascar	Colonial repression	40000	a b c e f g h
1947	1949	EV	2	India	Kashmir rebellion	4000	a c f g h n
1948	*	IN	1	Israel	Independence	4000	b
1948	*	CV	1	Colombia	Civil violence (Conservatives)	1000	a b c f h o
1948	*	CV	1	Costa Rica	Civil violence (National Union)	2000	a c f g h o
1948	*	CV	1	South Korea	Civil violence (Army)	1000	a c f
1948	*	CV	1	India	Civil violence (Hyderabad)	2500	a c f g h
1948	1949	IW	5	Egypt Israel Jordan Lebanon Syria	Palestine-Israel war	10000	a b c d f g h
1948	1956	EW	2	Malaysia	Repression of Chinese by Malay militia	12500	e
1948	2019+	EW	4	Myanmar (Burma)1	Ethnic war (Karen, Shan, and others)	115000	a b c d e f h j k l o p
1948	1960	CW	5	Colombia	"La Violencia" civil war (Liberals)	250000	a b c f h
1950	*	IV	2	China Taiwan	International violence (Formosa Straits)	5000	f g
1950	*	EV	2	Indonesia	Ethnic violence (Moluccans)	5000	a b c f h o
1950	1951	IW	2	China²	Tibet invasion	2000	a c f g h k
1950	1951	CV	4	China	Repression of the landlords	1500000	a e
1950	1952	CV	3	Philippines	Civil violence (Huks)	10000	a b c f h o
1950	1953	IV	2	Myanmar (Burma)	Chinese Kuomintang forces led by Gen. Li Mi	3000	c p
1950	1953	CW	6	North Korea South Korea	Korean War (civil war)	1500000	a b c f g h n
1950	1953	IV*	3	USA⁴	Korean civil war (FDI event)	54000	a b c f g h n
1950	1953	IV*	4	China⁴	Korean civil war (FDI event)	100000	a b c f g h n
1950	1960	CV	3	Malaysia³	Independence and civil violence	15000	a b f g h o
1951	*	CV	1	Thailand	Mahattan Naval Revolt	1200	c p
1952	*	CV	1	Egypt	Civil violence (Nasser coup)	1000	f
1952	*	CV	2	Bolivia	"National Revolution"	2000	a c f h
1952	1954	IN	2	Tunisia	Independence	3000	a c f g h
1952	1963	IN	3	Kenya	Independence (Mau Mau rebellion)	20000	a b c f g h
1952	2014	EW	2	India	Ethnic war (northeast tribals; Assam separatists)	27000	c k o p
1953	*	CV	1	Indonesia	Civil violence (Darul Islam)	1000	a b c h o
1953	*	CV	1	Iran	Ouster of Mossadeq government by Shah loyalists	800	p
1953	1954	CV	3	Vietnam	Repression of landlords	15000	e
1953	1956	IN	2	Morocco	Independence	3000	a c f g h
1954	*	CV	1	Guatemala	Civil violence (coup against Arbenz)	1000	a c h o
1954	1955	IW	3	China Taiwan	First Taiwan Strait Crisis	25000	c p
1954	1955	EV	2	Taiwan	Ethnic violence (Native Taiwanese v KMT)	5000	a c
1954	1962	IN	5	Algeria	Independence	100000	a b c f g h k
1954	1962	IW*	3	France⁴	Algerian independence war (FDI event)	18000	a b c f g h k
1955	*	CV	1	Costa Rica	Civil violence	1000	c f
1955	*	CV	2	Taiwan	Civil violence (Taiwanese v KMT)	5000	a
1955	*	CV	2	Argentina	Civil violence (army rebellion)	3000	a c h k
1955	1960	IN	3	Cameroon	Independence	30000	a b c f h
1956	*	IW	2	Egypt	Suez War	3000	a c d f g h n
1956	*	IW	3	Hungary USSR	International war	20000	a b c f g h o
1956	1960	EV	1	Yemen AR	Ethnic violence (Yemeni-Adenese clans)	1000	c f
1956	1967	EW	4	China	Ethnic war (Tibetans)	100000	a b c e f g h j o
1956	1972	EW	5	Sudan	Ethnic warfare (Islamic v African)	500000	a b c e f g h k o
1957	*	IV	1	Honduras Nicaragua	International violence (border dispute)	1000	c f
1957	1958	IV	1	Mauritania Morocco	International violence (border dispute)	1000	f g
1957	1959	CW	2	Cuba	Civil war (Castro ousts Batista)	5000	a b c f h k o
1957	1961	CV	3	Indonesia	Civil violence (dissident military)	30000	a b c f h k o
1958	*	CV	1	Lebanon	Civil violence	2000	a c f g h k o
1958	*	CV	1	Iraq	Civil violence (coup ousts monarchy)	2000	a c g o
1958	*	CV	1	Venezuela	Civil violence (popular revolt against President Perez Jimenez)	800	p
1958	1975	CW	7	North Vietnam South Vietnam	"Vietnam War" (civil war)	2000000	a b c e g h k n o
1959	*	CV	1	Iraq	Civil violence (Shammar tribe)	2000	a c h
1959	*	CW	2	China	Repression of counter-revolutionaries	50000	k
1959	1966	EW	3	Rwanda	PARMEHUTU overthrow of Tutsi monarchy; repression of Tutsis	75000	a b c e f g h k o p
1960	1961	EV	1	Pakistan	Ethnic violence (Pushtun)	1000	k
1960	1965	CW	4	Zaire	Katanga civil war	100000	a b c e g h k o
1960	1973	CW	3	Laos	Civil war	25000	a b c e f h k o
1961	*	IV	1	Cuba	US-instigated "Bay of Pigs" invasion	700	c p
1961	*	CV	1	Tunisia	Colonial violence	1000	c f
1961	1975	IN	4	Angola⁵	Independence	50000	a b c e f g h
1961	1975	IV*	1	Portugal⁴	Angolan independence (FDI event)	7000	a b c e f g h
1961	1993	EW	5	Iraq	Ethnic warfare (Kurds)	150000	a b c d e f h j k l o
1962	*	IV	1	China India	International violence (border dispute)	2000	a b c f g h n
1962	1963	CV	1	Algeria	Civil violence (rebel factions)	2000	a c e h o
1962	1964	IV	1	Burundi Rwanda	International violence	1500	c p
1962	1966	IV	1	Indonesia Malaysia	International violence (north Borneo)	1500	c g
1962	1970	CW	3	Yemen AR	Civil war (following coup)	40000	a b c f h k o
1962	1973	EV	1	Ethiopia	Eritrean separatists	2000	p
1962	1974	IN	3	Guinea-Bissau	Independence	15000	h m
1963	*	CV	1	Iraq	Military coup ousts Kassem and aftermath	5000	c p
1963	*	CV	1	Iran	Civil violence (land reform)	1000	k
1963	1964	IV	1	Somalia Ethiopia	International violence	1000	c f
1963	1964	IV	1	Algeria Morocco	International violence (border dispute)	1000	c f g
1963	1968	CV	2	Cyprus	Civil violence (Makarios crisis)	2000	k o
1963	1993	EW	2	Indonesia	Ethnic warfare (Papuan-West Irian)	15000	j o
1964	*	CV	1	Zambia	Civil violence	1000	a c
1964	*	CV	1	Tanzania	Zanzibar Revolution	2500	c p
1964	*	IV	1	Ethiopia Somalia	Ogaden clashes	2000	p
1964	1966	EV	1	Kenya	Shifta; Somali separatism	1000	p
1964	1973	IV*	3	USA⁴	Vietnamese civil war (FDI event)	60000	a b c e g h k n o
1965	*	EV	2	Burundi	Ethnic violence (failed coup; Hutu/Tutsi)	5000	k
1965	*	CV	2	Dominican Republic	Civil violence	3000	a b c h k o
1965	*	IW	3	India Pakistan	2nd Kashmir War	20000	a b c d f g h n
1965	1966	CW	5	Indonesia	Repression of Chinese/Communists	500000	a b c e f k o
1965	1968	CV	1	USA	Civil violence (urban Afro-American unrest)	1000	k
1965	1975	IN	3	Mozambique	Independence (FRELIMO)	30000	a b f g h
1965	1975	IV*	1	Portugal⁴	Mozambique independence (FDI event)	5000	a b f g h
1965	1983	CW	2	Thailand	Communist insurgency	8000	l p
1965	1990	IN	2	Namibia	Independence	25000	b c f g
1965	1994	CW	4	Chad	Civil war	75000	a b c f g h j k l o
1965	2019+	EW	2	Israel	Ethnic war (Arab Palestinians/PLO-Hamas)	27000	d f g j k l o p
1966	*	CW	3	Nigeria	Repression of Ibo	20000	c e
1966	*	EV	1	Uganda	Ethnic violence (Buganda)	2000	a b c h o
1966	1970	EW	6	Nigeria	Ethnic warfare (Biafra separatism)	200000	a b c f h k o
1966	1975	CW	5	China	"Cultural Revolution"	500000	a c e f h k
1966	1996	EW	5	Guatemala	Repression of indigenous peoples	150000	a b c d e f h j k l o
1967	*	CV	1	Zaire	Civil violence	800	c p
1967	1970	IW	4	Egypt Israel Jordan Syria	"Six-Day War" and war of attrition	75000	a b c d f g h n
1968	*	CV	1	Czechoslovakia	"Prague Spring" civil violence	1000	c f g
1968	1982	CV	1	India	Repression of Naxalites	2000	e
1969	*	IV	1	USSR China	Ussuri River border dispute	1000	a c f g
1969	*	IW	2	El Salvador Honduras	"Soccer War"	5000	a b c f g h n
1969	1979	CV	4	Equatorial Guinea	Repression of dissidents	50000	p
1969	1994	EV	2	UK	Ethnic violence (Northern Ireland/IRA)	3000	b c d f j k l o
1970	*	CV	3	Jordan	Civil violence (Palestinians)	10000	a b c f g h k o
1970	1975	CV	1	Oman	Civil violence (Dhofar rebellion)	3000	g k o
1970	1975	CW	5	Cambodia	Civil war	150000	a b c f h k o
1970	1982	EV	1	Italy	Ethnic violence (Sardinians)	2000	f
1971	*	CV	2	Sri Lanka	Civil violence (attempted coup)	10000	a b c f h k o
1971	*	EW	6	Bangladesh Pakistan	Ethnic war (Bengali independence)	1000000	a b c e f g h k o
1971	*	IW	3	India Pakistan	International war	11000	a b c d g h n
1971	1978	EW	5	Uganda	Ethnic warfare (Idi Amin regime)	250000	a b e k o
1972	*	EV	2	Burundi	Ethnic violence (Hutus target Tutsis)	2000	b f g o
1972	1973	EW	4	Burundi	Repression of Hutus	100000	a b c e f g h k o
1972	1979	EV	3	Zimbabwe	Ethnic violence (ZANU/ZAPU v Whites)	20000	a b f g h k o
1972	1997	CW	3	Philippines	Civil warfare (New Peoples Army)	40000	a b c d h l o p
1972	2019+	EW	3	Philippines	Ethnic warfare (Moros)	60000	a b c d e f h j k l o p
1973	*	IW	3	Egypt Israel Syria	"Yom Kippur War"	16000	a b c d f g h n
1973	*	CV	2	Chile	Civil violence (army ouster of Allende)	5000	a b c f
1973	1977	EW	2	Pakistan	Ethnic warfare (Baluch separatism)	12000	a b e f h k o
1974	*	CV	2	Cyprus	Civil violence	5000	a b c f g h k n o
1974	1975	IV	1	Iran Iraq	International violence (Shatt el Arab)	1000	f g
1974	1976	CW	3	Chile	Repression of dissidents ("disappeared")	20000	a b e k
1974	1985	CV	2	Turkey	Civil violence	8000	f
1974	1991	EW	6	Ethiopia	Ethnic warfare (Eritreans and others)	750000	a b c d e f h j k l o
1975	1978	CW	6	Cambodia⁷	Khmer Rouge repression of dissidents	1500000	a b e g k
1975	1979	IV	1	Mozambique Zimbabwe	Rhodesian armed incursions	1400	i p
1975	1978	IW	2	Cambodia⁷ Vietnam	International war	10000	h n
1975	1989	CW	3	Mauritania (1979)² Morocco	Colonial war (Western Sahara)	15000	a b c d f g h j k l o
1975	1990	CV	2	Laos	Civil violence (rebel Lao and Hmong)	10000	d f g k l
1975	1991	EV	2	Indonesia	Ethnic violence (Aceh)	15000	j l o
1975	1991	EW	5	Lebanon	Ethnic war (Various sects)	100000	a b c d g h k l o
1975	1992	EW	2	Bangladesh	Ethnic war (Chittagong Hills)	25000	d j l o
1975	2002	CW	6	Angola	Civil war (UNITA)	1000000	a b c d f g h j k l o p
1975	2005	CV	1	Angola	Civil violence (Cabinda separatists; FLEC)	3500	p
1975	2019+	CV	4	Colombia	Civil violence, land reform, and drug trafficking (left: ELN, FARC, ELP, MAO, M-19; right: MAS, AUC)	59500	a d f h k l o p
1976	*	EV	1	South Africa	Ethnic violence	1000	a d k o
1976	*	CV	1	Sudan	Islamic Charter Front	1000	p
1976	1980	CW	3	Argentina	"The Dirty War" repression of dissidents	20000	a b e f k
1976	1992	CW	5	Indonesia	Colonial war (East Timor)	180000	a b c d e f g h j k l o
1977	*	IV	1	Angola Zaire	International violence (dispute over Shaba)	1000	f g
1977	1979	EW	2	Ethiopia	"Ogaden War" ethnic violence (Somalis)	10000	b c f g h n o
1977	1980	EV	2	Turkey	Ethnic violence (Armenians)	5000	a b
1977	1983	CW	2	Zaire	Repression of dissidents	10000	e k
1977	1987	IV	1	Cambodia Thailand	International violence	1000	i n
1978	*	IV	2	Israel Lebanon	International violence (PLO factions)	5000	d
1978	*	IV	1	Angola Zaire	International violence (dispute over Shaba)	1000	f g
1978	*	CV	1	Somalia	Military faction	500	p
1978	*	CV	1	Yemen PDR	Ouster of President Ali; factional fighting	750	p
1978	1979	IV	1	Yemen AR Yemen PDR	International violence	1000	i p
1978	1979	CW	3	Nicaragua	Civil war (Sandinistas)	40000	a b c f g h k o
1978	1979	IW	2	Tanzania Uganda	International war (ouster of Idi Amin)	3000	a b c g h n
1978	1989	IW	5	Cambodia⁷ Vietnam	International war (ouster of Khmer Rouge)	65000	a b c d f g h o
1978	1993	CW	4	Iran	Civil war (Islamic state)	50000	a b c d e f h k l o
1978	2000	CW	7	Afghanistan	Civil war	1000000	a b c d e f g h j k l o p
1979	*	IW	4	China Vietnam	International war	30000	a b c f g h n
1979	1980	CV	1	South Korea	Unrest, riots, and government repression	1000	a k
1979	1982	CW	3	Syria	Repression of dissidents (Muslim Brotherhood)	25000	a b e f k
1979	1985	EW	3	Iran	Ethnic war (Kurds)	40000	j k o
1979	1992	CW	6	El Salvador	Civil war (FMLN)	75000	a b c d e f g h k l o
1979	1998	EV	3	Iraq	Ethnic violence (Shias)	25000	f h j o p
1980	*	CV	1	Brazil	Repression of dissidents (death squads)	1000	a
1980	*	CV	1	Jamaica	Civil violence (elections)	1000	a f
1980	1985	EV	2	Nigeria	Ethnic violence (Islamic groups)	9000	a f h k o p
1980	1988	IW	6	Iran Iraq	International war	500000	a b c f g h n
1980	1988	IV*	3	USSR⁴	Direct Intervention in Afghanistan civil war (FDI event)	50000	a b c d e f g h j k l o p
1980	1998	EV	2	China	Ethnic violence (Uighurs, Kazakhs)	10000	j k o p
1981	*	EV	1	Ghana	Civil violence (Konkomba v Nanumba)	1000	a f
1981	*	CV	1	Gambia	SRLP rebellion	650	p
1981	1986	CW	4	Uganda	Repression of dissidents	100000	a e f h k o
1981	1986	IV	1	Honduras Nicaragua	International violence; Contra armed forces	2000	i p
1981	1987	EV	2	Zimbabwe	Ethnic violence (Ndebele)	3000	a f k o
1981	1990	CW	3	Nicaragua	Civil war (Contras)	30000	a b d f g h k l o
1981	1992	CW	6	Mozambique	Civil war (RENAMO)	500000	a b d f g h k l o
1982	*	IV	1	Israel Syria	International violence	1000	h n
1982	*	IW	1	Argentina UK	Falklands-Malvinas War	1000	a b f g h n
1982	1990	IW	4	Israel Lebanon	International war	50000	a b
1982	1997	CV	3	Peru	Civil violence (Sendero Luminoso)	30000	a b d f h j k l o p
1983	*	CV	2	India	Civil violence (elections in Assam)	3000	a
1983	1984	CV	2	China	Repression of dissidents	5000	a
1983	1993	EW	3	India	Ethnic warfare (Sikhs)	25000	a b d f h j k l
1983	1996	EW	3	South Africa	Ethnic/civil warfare	20000	a d j k l o
1983	1998	EV	1	Pakistan	Ethnic violence (Sindhis; Muhajirs)	5000	k
1983	2009	EW	5	Sri Lanka	Ethnic war (Tamils)	75000	a b d e f g h j k l o p
1983	2002	EW	6	Sudan	Ethnic war (Islamic v African)	1000000	a b d f h j k l o p
1984	*	CV	1	Cameroon	Military faction	750	p
1984	*	EV	1	Zaire	Ethnic/civil warfare	1000	k
1984	1999	EW	3	Turkey	Ethnic warfare (Kurds)	40000	d g h j k l p
1985	*	CW	2	Liberia	Repression of dissidents (failed coup)	5000	a
1985	1987	IW	2	China Vietnam	International war	4000	h n
1986	1987	CW	2	Yemen PDR	Civil war	10000	a b h k o
1986	1989	EW	1	Suriname	Rebellion by Surinamese Liberation Army (black-Maroons)	900	p
1986	1993	EV	2	Nigeria	Ethnic violence (Muslim-Christian)	10000	j o
1986	2006	EV	2	Uganda	Ethnic violence (Lord's Resistance Army: Langi and Acholi)	16000	d j k l o p
1987	*	IV	1	China Vietnam	International violence	1000	a i
1987	*	CV	2	Chile	Civil violence	3000	a b
1987	1990	CW	4	Sri Lanka	Civil war (JVP-Sinhalese extremists)	25000	h k l o
1988	*	CV	1	Myanmar	Civil violence (student protests)	2000	k
1988	*	EV	3	Burundi	Ethnic violence (Tutsis against Hutus)	10000	a b h k o
1988	1997	EW	3	Azerbaijan	Ethnic War (Nagorno-Karabakh)	15000	h j k l n o p
1988	1997	EW	1	Papua New Guinea	Ethnic warfare (Bougainville)	1000	k l o p
1988	2019+	CW	5	Somalia	Civil war	130000	a b d h j k l o p
1989	*	CV	1	China	Civil violence (Tiananman protests)	2000	a k
1989	*	IV	1	Panama USA	International violence	1000	a l
1989	*	CV	1	Romania	Civil violence	1000	a h k l o
1989	*	IV	2	Mauritania Senegal	Reciprocal violence against foreign nationals; forced repatriation	500	l p
1990	*	CW	1	China	Repression of dissidents	2000	a
1990	1991	EV	2	USSR	Sporadic ethnic/communal violence	5000	k l
1990	1991	IW	5	Iraq Kuwait	Gulf War	100000	h l n
1990	1994	EW	3	Rwanda	Ethnic warfare (Tutsis v Hutu regime)5	15000	h j k l o
1990	1994	IW	3	Armenia Azerbaijan	International war (Nagorno-Karabakh)	10000	h j k l n o
1990	1995	EV	1	Mali	Ethnic violence (Tuareg)	1000	k o p
1990	1997	CW	4	Liberia	Civil war	40000	a d h j k l o p
1990	1997	EV	1	Niger	Ethnic violence (Azawad and Toubou)	1000	l o
1990	1997	CW	2	Cambodia	Civil warfare (Khmer Rouge)	5000	l
1990	2019+	EW	3	India	Ethnic war (Kashmiris)	45000	j k l o p
1991	*	CW	2	Croatia	Civil war (Croatian independence)	10000	h k l
1991	*	CV	1	Burundi	Civil violence	1000	h l
1991	*	CV	1	Haiti	Military coup ousts Aristide	700	k l p
1991	1993	EV	2	Bhutan	Rebellion and forced repatriation of Lhotshampas (ethnic-Nepalese)	1200	p
1991	1993	CW	1	Georgia	Civil war	1000	h k l
1991	1993	EW	2	Georgia	Ethnic war (Abkhazians-Ossetians)	3000	h j k l o
1991	1993	EV	1	Kenya	Ethnic violence (Kalenjin, Masai, Kikuyu, Luo)	2000	j k o
1991	1994	CW	1	Djibouti	FRUD rebellion	1000	l o
1991	1995	EW	3	Croatia	Ethnic war (Serbs)	40000	j k l o
1991	1997	EV	1	Moldova	Ethnic violence (Trans-Dniester Russians)	2000	j k l o p
1991	2001	CW	3	Sierra Leone	Civil/Ethnic warfare (RUF/Mende)	25000	k l m p
1991	2004	CW	4	Algeria	Civil warfare (Islamic militants)	60000	k l o p
1991	2002	EV	2	India	Ethnic violence (Ayodhya Movement; Hindu vs Muslim)	3500	j
1992	1995	EW	6	Bosnia	Ethnic war (Serbs, Croats, Muslims)	200000	h j k l o
1992	1996	EV	2	Zaire	Ethnic violence	10000	j k o
1992	1998	CW	3	Tajikistan	Civil warfare	25000	h k l o p
1992	1999	CV	1	Egypt	Civil violence (Islamic militants)	2000	k o p
1992	1999	EV	1	Senegal	Ethnic violence (Casamance)	3000	l p
1993	*	EV	1	Congo-Brazzaville	Ethnic violence	2000	m
1993	2005	EW	4	Burundi	Ethnic warfare (Tutsis against Hutus)	100000	j k l p
1994	*	EW	7	Rwanda	Ethnic violence (Hutus target Tutsis)⁵	500000	k l o
1994	*	EV	1	Ghana	Ethnic violence	1000	m
1994	*	EW	1	Yemen	Ethnic warfare (south Yemenis)	3000	l o
1994	1996	EW	4	Russia	Ethnic war (Chechnya secession I)	40000	k l o
1994	1997	EV	1	Mexico	Ethnic violence (Chiapas)	1000	l o p
1994	1998	EW	3	Rwanda	Ethnic warfare (Hutus vs Tutsi regime)⁵	15000	p
1995	*	IV	1	Ecuador Peru	International violence (border dispute)	1000	l
1996	1998	EW	1	Iraq	Ethnic warfare (Kurds)	2000	k l p
1996	2006	CW	2	Nepal	Civil war (UPF "People's War")	8000	l p
1996	2019+	CW	5	Dem. Rep. of Congo (Zaire)	Civil War (ouster of Mobutu & aftermath; Interhamwe in NE)	2500000	k l p
1996	2002	IV*	2	Rwanda⁴	Direct Intervention in DRCongo civil war (FDI event)	3500	l p
1996	2002	IV*	1	Uganda⁴	Direct Intervention in DRCongo civil war (FDI event)	1200	l p
1997	1999	CW	3	Congo-Brazzaville	Civil warfare	10000	l p
1997	*	CV	2	Albania	Civil violence (Pyramid Schemes)	2000	l p
1997	2005	EV	1	Indonesia	Ethnic violence (Aceh; GAM militants)	3000	l p
1997	2010	EV	1	Nigeria	Communal violence (Delta province; Ijaw, Itsekeri, and others)	2500	l p
1997	2019+	EV	1	Pakistan	Sectarian violence: Sunnis, Shi'ites, and Ahmadis	4850	l p
1998	1999	EW	4	Yugoslavia	Ethnic war (Kosovar Albanians)	15000	l p
1998	*	CV	2	Indonesia	Civil violence (ouster of Suharto)	2000	l p
1998	*	EW	1	Georgia	Ethnic warfare (Abkhazia)	1000	l p
1998	1999	CW	2	Guinea-Bissau	Civil war (coup attempt)	6000	l p
1998	2000	IW	5	Eritrea Ethiopia	Interstate war	100000	l p
1998	2003	IV	1	Iraq	International violence (US/UK airstrikes)	1000	l p
1998	2003	EV	1	Solomon Islands	Communal violence (Malaita/Isatabu islanders)	500	l p
1999	*	IV	1	India Pakistan	International violence (Kargil clashes)	1500	l p
1999	*	CV	2	Indonesia	Ethnic violence (East Timor independence)	3000	l p
1999	2002	EV	1	Indonesia	Ethnic violence (Moluccas; Muslim/Christian)	3500	l p
1999	*	IV	3	Yugoslavia	International violence (NATO airstrikes)	1000	l p
1999	2000	EW	1	Ethiopia	Ethnic war (Oromo separatists)	2000	l p
1999	2006	EW	4	Russia	Ethnic war (Chechnya secession II)	30000	l p
2000	2001	CV	1	Guinea	Parrot's Beak clashes	1000	l p
2000	2003	CV	1	Liberia	Civil violence (attacks by LURD guerillas)	1000	l p
2000	2005	CW	2	Ivory Coast	Civil war (north, south, and west divisions)	3000	l p
2001	*	EV	1	Indonesia	Communal (Dayaks vs Madurese immigrants)	1000	l p
2001	*	EW	1	Rwanda	Ethnic war (attacks by Hutu guerillas)	2500	l p
2001	*	IV	2	United States	Al Qaeda attacks on New York/Washington	3000	l p
2001	2003	CV	1	Central African Rep.	Civil violence (attacks by Bozize loyalists; coup)	1000	l p
2001	2004	EV	3	Nigeria	Ethnic violence (Christian-Muslim; Plateau, Kano regions)	55000	l p
2001	2019+	CW	4	Afghanistan	Ouster of Taliban and continuing civil war	160000	l p
2001	2019+	CV	2	India	Maoist insurgency (People's War Group; Maoist Communist Centre; People's Liberation Guerrilla Army)	9000	l p
2002	2003	CV	1	Congo-Brazzaville	Civil violence (Ninja militants in Pool region)	500	l p
2003	*	CV	1	Thailand	Anti-Drug Traffiking Campaign	2500	l p
2003	2010	IW	6	Iraq6	US-led Ouster of Hussein-Ba'athist regime and consequent sectarian strife: Sunnis, Shias, Kurds, and foreign al Qaeda	250000	l p
2003	2010	IW*	2	United States6	Invasion of Iraq and military occupation (FDI event)	4400	l p
2003	2007	CV	1	Saudi Arabia	Islamic Militants	700	l p
2003	2019+	EV	5	Sudan	Communal-separatist violence in Darfur	350000	l p
2004	2014	CW	2	Yemen	Followers of al-Huthi in Sadaa	4500	l p
2004	2007	CV	1	Haiti	General unrest surrounding ouster of President Aristide and his Lavalas Family ruling party	2000	l p
2004	2017	EW	4	Pakistan	Pashtuns in Federally Administered Tribal Areas	50000	l p
2004	2019+	EV	1	Thailand	Malay-Muslims in southern border region (Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, and Yala provinces)	4650	l p
2004	2019+	EV	2	Turkey	Kurds in the southeast	16000	l p
2005	2019+	EV	2	Pakistan	Rebellion in Baluchistan	9000	l p
2005	2010	CW	1	Chad	Anti-Deby regime: United Front for Democratic Change (FUC), Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), and others	2000	l p
2005	2019+	EW	3	Central African Republic	APRD, UFDR, and Seleka rebels and "anti-balaka" (Christian) militias	24000	l p
2005	2014	IV*	1	United States6	Stabilization operation in Afghanistan (FDI event)	2200	l p
2006	*	IV	2	Israel Lebanon	Israel vs Hezbollah	1500	l p
2006	2008	EV	1	Kenya	Sabaot Land Defense Forces (SLDF) rebellion in Mt. Elgon	800	l p
2006	2019+	CV	4	Mexico	Federal Army and police offensive against entrenched drug cartels and corrupt police and officials, mainly in the northern region bordering the USA	100000	l p
2006	2010	EV	2	Chad	Communal fighting between Toroboro ("black" sedentary farmer) and Janjawid ("arab" pastoralist) militias	5000	l p
2007	2008	EV	1	Lebanon	Palestinian/Islamist militants	500	l p
2007	2018	EV	1	Ethiopia	Somalis (ONLF) and Oromo (OLF) militants in Ogaden region	4500	l p
2008	*	IW	1	Georgia Russia	South Ossetia War	850	l p
2008	*	EV	3	Kenya	Communal violence following disputed presidential election	1500	l p
2008	*	EV	1	Nigeria	Communal violence in Jos: Christian and Muslim	800	l p
2008	2017	EV	1	Russia	Ethnic violence (Islamist militants in eastern Transcaucasus region: Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia)	4500	l p
2009	2015	EV	1	China	Ethnic violence (Uighers in Xinjiang province)	800	p
2009	2019+	CW	3	Nigeria	Rebellion by radical-Muslim Boko Haram in north border region	27000	l p
2009	2019+	EV	1	South Sudan	Communal violence in south: Lou Nuer and Murle; rebel militias	4000	l p
2010	2019+	EV	1	Nigeria	Communal violence in Jos/Plateau state: Christian and Muslim	4500	l p
2010	*	EV	2	Kyrgyzstan	Ethnic violence (Kyrgyz; Uzbeks, following ouster of Bakiyev)	600	l p
2011	*	CV	1	Egypt	Popular protests against Mubarak regime	1000	l p
2011	*	CW	2	Ivory Coast	Rejection of December 2010 presidential election results by regime leads to resumption of civil war and ends with arrest of President Gbagbo	3000	l p
2011	2019+	EW	5	Iraq	Continuing Sunni-Shia sectrian strife; Islamic State insurgency	212000	l p
2011	2019+	EW	6	Syria	Popular protests and regime crackdown trigger warfare with ethnic-Sunni miltants and Islamist-extremists against Assad's ethnic-Alawite regime	560000	l p
2011	*	CW	3	Libya	Anti-Gaddhafi elements centered in the eastern coastal region; NATO intervention	25000	l p
2011	2014	CV	1	Yemen	Anti-Saleh demonstrations, southern separatists, army mutiny, clan rivalry, and al Qaeda militants	4000	l p
2011	2019+	EV	1	Sudan	Armed supporters of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-North) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states	5500	l p
2012	2019+	CV	1	Mali	Islamist Ansar Dine and ethnic-Tuareg "Azawad" separatists	3000	l p
2013	2019+	CV	2	Egypt	Military ouster of President Morsi and crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood; Islamist rebellion in Sinai and south	5500	p
2013	2019+	EW	5	South Sudan	Rebellion by ethnic Nuer supporters of Reik Machar leads to war with ethnic Dinka supporters of President Salva Kiir	400000	p
2013	2015	EV	1	Dem. Rep. of Congo	Ethnic Mai Mai separatist rebellion in Katanga Province	850	p
2014	2019+	CW	2	Libya	Fighting among several militias over control of oil revenues and central authority (mainly east/west/south and secular/Islamist splits)	7700	p
2014	2019+	EW	2	Ukraine	Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine	13000	p
2015	2019+	CV	1	Burundi	Government forces target opposition in dispute over President Nkurunziza's "election" to a third term	1900	p
2015	2019+	EV	1	Cameroon	Boko Haram militants conduct operations along northwest border with Nigeria	1600	p
2015	2019+	CV	3	Venezuela	Government security forces, especially the Special Actions Force (FAES), engage in extrajudicial killings of opposition figures.	15000	p
2015	2019+	EW	4	Yemen	Houthi rebels ally with Saleh loyalists to oust Mansour Hadi government: Hadi forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition	91000	p
2016	2019+	CV	2	Philippines	Anti-drug violence directed by Duterte regime	26000	p
2016	2017	EV	2	Dem. Rep. of Congo	Kamwinda Nsapu rebellion in Kasai	5000	p
2016	2017	CV	1	Ethiopia	Violent protests and State of Emergency in Amhara, Oromiya, and SNNP	690	p
2017	2019+	EV	1	Cameroon	Ambazonia separatists mount a rebellion in Anglophone regions in the north and west	2400	p
2017	2019+	CV	1	Mozambique	Islamist militants in the northern region of Cabo Delgado	900	p
2018	*	EV	1	Dem. Rep. of Congo	Communal violence between Batende and Banunu in Yumbi	890	p
2018	2019+	EV	1	Niger	Communal violence between Islamic and other ethnic groups	900	p
2019	2019+	EV	1	Burkina Faso	Communal violence between Islamic and other ethnic groups	1700	p

Notes and Sources

* The research described in this data-collection project has been sponsored by the Political Instability Task Force (PITF). The PITF is funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. The views expressed herein are the author's/authors' alone and do not represent the views of the US Government.

1. Ethnic separatist resistance in the border regions of Myanmar (Burma) includes several groups, such as the Kachins, Karen, Karreni, Mons, Rohingyas, Shan, Wa, and others. Because information on political activity in Myanmar has been, and continues to be, so poor, it has not been possible to list the rebellions separately despite the fact that there is little evidence of collusion between ethnic-rebel groups.

2. In cases where the sovereignty of a distinct territory is ambiguous and contested by the parties in conflict, the episode is coded as an international conflict until authority has either been successfully imposed or resisted, after which subsequent episodes are coded according to the sovereignty thus established.

3. The case of Malaysian independence and civil violence is continuous and coded IN3 for the period prior to official independence in 1957 (i.e., 1957) and CV3 afterward (i.e., 1958-1960).

4. The United States' and China�s direct involvement in the Korean civil war, France's direct involvement in the Indochinese and Algerian wars of independence, Portugal's direct involvement in the Angola and Mozambique colonial wars, the United States� direct involvement in the Vietnamese civil war, the Soviet Union�s direct involvement in the civil war in Afghanistan, and Rwanda and Uganda's direct involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) civil war are unique cases of external involvement that surpass the limited and indirect engagement usually accorded to acts of external interventions and, so, are coded as separate listings of international violence or warfare separate from the civil warfare episodes in which they were engaged. These separate listings for "internationalized civil war" involvements are not considered unique "major episodes of political violence" in tabulating event counts.

5. The end of the Angola independence war (1961-1975) coincides with the beginning of the Angola civil war (1975-2002). The Rwanda case is unique in that it involves a sudden and complete transference of political power as the Tutsi insurgency mounts an offensive and seizes power following the Hutu regime-instigated genocide. Former members of the Hutu regime and, especially, those responsible for the genocide then take up arms against the new Tutsi-dominated regime. These contiguous episodes are listed as two separate episodes but are recorded in the data record as though they were continual episodes (i.e., with no overlap of the two contiguous episodes).

6. The Iraq war (2003-2008+) is recorded as an international war (IW6) because the 2003 invasion by US forces triggered an armed resistance by indigenous and foreign militants within Iraq and a communal war involving Sunni, Shia, and Kurd communal groups; in effect, this episode in treated as a "domesticized interstate war." The effect on the United States resulting from its direct invasion of Iraq, its forceful ouster of the Saddam Hussein-led Ba'athist regime, and its continued support for the new, Shia-dominated government in the ensuing civil war is coded separately from the Iraq case; the US case is coded as an international war (IW) with magnitude 2; the US case listing is not counted as a separate event. Similarly, the US direct intervention in Afghanistan (2005-2014) is recorded as a case of international violence (IV1) in an internationalized civil war and not counted as a separate event.

7. Vietnam armed forces invaded Cambodia in November 1978 and ousted the Khmer Rouge regime in December 1978. This episode escalates a prior interstate war between Cambodia and Vietnam (IW2 1975-1978) and overlaps with the prior civil war episode in Cambodia (CW6 1975-1978). In the data record for the year 1978, Cambodia is recorded with an IW2 and CW6; Vietnam is recorded with an IW5.

Information sources (References): There is no general agreement among scholars as to what constitutes a major episode of armed conflict. The most common divisions in the relevant research center on episode type or interstate-intrastate conflict distinctions, further complicating the comprehensive compilation of episodes of all types. The reference numbers list those from the following sixteen sources that include the episode with the purview of their particular classification scheme.

a. Ruth Leger Sivard. 1991. World Military and Social Expenditures 1991. 14th ed. Washington, DC: World Priorities. (Also, consulted 16th ed., 1996, see "m" below.) Criteria: "...armed conflict involving one or more governments and causing the death of 1,000 or more people per year." (Sivard 1991, 25)

b. Patrick Brogan. 1989. World Conflicts: Why and Where They are Happening. London: Bloomsbury. Criteria: "...includes all the major wars and insurrections since 1945, but leaves out many lesser insurrections and riots, many of which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people."

c. Melvin Small and J. David Singer. 1982. Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars, 1816-1980. Beverly Hills: Sage. Criteria: Interstate wars during which the total "battle-connected fatalities among military personnel" for all participants was at least 1000 per year; extra-systemic wars during which battle deaths exceeded the 1000 per year threshold for the system-member; civil wars which resulted in at least 1000 deaths per year including both civilian and military personnel. (Small and Singer 1982, 71)

d. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 1968-1993. World Armaments and Disarmament: SIPRI Yearbook. Annual series. Stockholm: SIPRI. Criteria: Major armed conflicts, defined as "prolonged combat between the military forces of two or more governments or of one government and at least one organized armed group, involving the use of weapons and incurring battle-related deaths of at least 1000 persons." (SIPRI 1992, 417)

e. Barbara Harff and Ted Robert Gurr. 1988. "Toward Empirical Theory of Genocides and Politicides: Identification and Measurement of Cases since 1945." International Studies Quarterly 32: 359-371. Criteria: Cases of "massive state repression" which are "sustained episodes in which the state or its agents impose on a communal or political group 'conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.'"

f. G. D. Kaye, D. A. Grant, and E. J. Emond. 1985. Major Armed Conflict: A Compendium of Interstate and Intrastate Conflict, 1720 to 1985. Ottawa, Canada: Department of National Defense. Criteria: "In a general sense, the conflict modes involve two or more groups (nations and/or actors) in which the use of force was a significant factor in the event. This includes both internal and international events. At least one nation is involved in every conflict listed."

g. Herbert K. Tillema. 1991. International Armed Conflict Since 1945: A Bibliographic Handbook of Wars and Military Interventions. Boulder: Westview Press. Criteria: "An international armed conflict is operationally defined to include all directly related foreign overt military interventions undertaken by one or more states within one or more foreign political territories....Onset of the first directly related foreign overt military intervention and cessation of the last intervention are taken as the beginning and the end of an international armed conflict." (Tillema 1991, 12 fn.8)

h. J. David Singer and Melvin Small. 1993. The Correlates of War Project: International and Civil War Data, 1816-1992. Computer file. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Criteria: See source reference number 3 above, except that the criteria for "Extra-systemic" wars has been changed from "1000 annual average battle deaths per year" to "1000 battle deaths total for all participating interstate system members and the troop commitment criterion."

i. List of International and Civil Wars Excluded (1980-1988). Personal correspondence with Ricardo R. Rodriguiz, Data Management Assistant, Correlates of War Project, dated May 25, 1993. Criteria: Recognized in the literature as an episode of "armed conflict" but fail to meet minimum criteria for definition as one of the three COW categories; see source reference "c" above.

j. Ted Robert Gurr. 1994. "Peoples Against States: Ethnopolitical Conflict and the Changing World System." International Studies Quarterly 38: 347-377. Criteria: Serious ethnopolitical conflicts involving armed violence and resulting in large numbers of casualties and dislocated populations.

k. Daniel C. Esty, Jack A. Goldstone, Ted Robert Gurr, Barbara Harff, Marc Levy, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Pamela T. Surko, Alan N. Unger. 1998. State Failure Task Force Report: Phase II Findings. McLean, VA: Science Applications International Corporation. Criteria: The State Failure Problem Set includes four types of events: Ethnic Wars, Revolutionary Wars, Geno/Politicides, and Abrupt or Disruptive Regime Transitions. Only the first three types of events meet the general criteria to be considered a major armed conflict for cross-referencing here. Ethnic Wars are "episodes of violent conflict between governments and national, ethnic, religious, or other communal minorities (ethnic challengers) in which the challengers seek major changes in their status." Revolutionary Wars are "episodes of violent conflict between governments and politically organized groups (political challengers) that seek to overthrow the central government, to replace its leaders, or to seize power in one region." Geno/politicide is "the promotion, execution, and/or implied consent of sustained policies by governing elites or their agents-or, in the case of civil war, either of the contending authorities-that result in the deaths of a substantial portion of a communal and/or politicized communal group." Episodes of Geno/Politicide must have lasted six months or more to be included. Revolutionary and Ethnic Wars are included if they pass a minimum threshold wherein each party must mobilize 1000 or more people (armed agents, demonstrators, troops) and average 100 or more fatalities per year during the episode. The State Failure Problem Set is updated annually for the Political Instability Task Force by Societal-Systems Research Inc; the most recent version of the data is available on the CSP/INSCR Data Page.

l. Peter Wallensteen and Margareta Sollenberg (and others). 2008-2012. "Armed Conflict and Regional Conflict Complexes."Annual report in Journal of Peace Research. Criteria: Wallensteen and Sollenberg include three types of events in their study: minor armed conflict, intermediate armed conflict, and war. Only the latter two types meet the general criteria for inclusion here. Intermediate armed conflicts have "more than 1,000 battle-related deaths recorded during the course of the conflict, but fewer than 1,000 in any given year." Wars have "more than 1,000 battle-related deaths during any given year." (Wallensteen and Sollenberg 1998, 621)

m. Ruth Leger Sivard. 1996. World Military and Social Expenditures 1996. 16th ed. Washington, DC: World Priorities. Criteria: "...armed conflict involving one or more governments and causing the death of 1,000 or more people per year." (Updates "a" above.)

n. Correlates of War. 1994. Militarized Interstate Disputes. Computer File. ICPSR version. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Criteria: Fatality category 5 and 6 cases were chosen for cross-referencing; category 5 includes disputes where fatalities range from 501 to 999 (1 case) and category 6 includes disputes with over 999 fatalities (24 cases).

o. Patrick M. Regan 1996. "Conditions of Successful Third-Party Intervention in Intrastate Conflicts." Journal of Conflict Resolution 40: 336-359. Criteria: Regan defines episodes of intrastate conflict as "armed, sustained combat between groups within state boundaries in which there are at least 200 fatalities." (Regan 1996, 338) Appendix lists only the 85 conflicts that had at least one intervention (of 138 total), only three of the conflicts listed fall below the standard 1000 fatalities threshold.

p. Monty G. Marshall. 1998-2020. "Current Status of the World's Major Episodes of Political Violence." Monthly reports to US Government's Political Instability Task Force, most recent report February 29, 2020.

This comprehensive compilation is a substantial revision and update of earlier works published in the following sources (each are available in the CSP Virtual Library as electronic documents):
Monty G. Marshall. 1999. Third World War: System, Process, and Conflict Dynamics. Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Monty G. Marshall. 2002. "Measuring the Societal Impact of War," chapter 4 in Fen Osler Hampson and David M. Malone, eds., From Reaction to Conflict Prevention: Opportunities for the UN System. A project of the International Peace Academy. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publisher.
Monty G. Marshall and Ted Robert Gurr. 2005. Peace and Conflict 2005: A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts, Democracy, and Self-Determination Movements. College Park, MD: Center for International Development and Conflict Management. Biennial report series; also published in 2001 and 2003.
Monty G. Marshall and Benjamin R. Cole. 2014. Global Report 2014: Conflict, Governance, and State Fragility. Vienna, VA: Center for Systemic Peace. Serial report; also published in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011.
Monty G. Marshall and Gabrielle Elzinga-Marshall. 2017. Global Report 2017: Conflict, Governance, and State Fragility. Vienna, VA: Center for Systemic Peace.

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Major Episodes of Political Violence 1946-2019

Compiled by Dr. Monty G. Marshall Director, Center for Systemic Peace

State Fragility and Warfare in the Global System 2019

Major Episodes of Political Violence
1946-2019

Compiled by Dr. Monty G. Marshall
Director, Center for Systemic Peace