'Conflicts between states highest level since World War II'

The world feels especially plagued with violent conflict and war at present.

Unfortunately this feeling seems to be more than just social-media driven vibes. Or at least it was in 2025; I guess this year isn’t over yet so we can’t count it up yet.

From the Peace Research Institute::

The report, Conflict Trends: A Global Overview, 1946–2025, documented eight interstate conflicts in 2025 - twice as many as the previous year and the highest number recorded since 1946.

These include:

Russia’s war against Ukraine, renewed violence between India and Pakistan, escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, and multiple interstate confrontations linked to the expanding regional conflict involving Israel, Iran, Yemen and the United States.

Overall almost a quarter of a million people died due to ‘battle-related violence’.

3 conflicts in particular drove that upsetting stat:

…the Russian invasion of Ukraine; the bombardments of Gaza; and the high levels of one-sided violence in Sudan

It’s not all interstate conflicts of course:

In total, 65 state-based conflicts were recorded across 35 countries in 2025 – also the highest number since records began in 1946.

There were also 75 non-state conflicts.

And a horrific amount of civilian deaths:

The level of one-sided violence against civilians increased dramatically from 14,200 in 2024 to 76,500 in 2025.

Mostly down to Sudan in this case.

This trend doesn’t seem to be a blip:

According to the report, the world has now experienced more than a decade of persistently high levels of violence. Every year since 2013 has been more violent than nearly every post-Cold War year that came before it.