Planet War

February 23, 2010 6:53 PM

From the bloody civil wars in Africa to the rag-tag insurgencies in Southeast Asia, 33 conflicts are raging around the world today, and it’s often innocent civilians who suffer the most.

Each photo and summary has deep back story links.

posted by netbros (14 comments total)

Iran, India and Northern Ireland all qualify as "conflicts"?
posted by KokuRyu at 7:09 PM on February 23, 2010

Northern Ireland might have settled down, as has the still rather untenable situation in Iran. But a swath of tens of thousands of armed rebels stretching for hundreds of miles across the Indian subcontinent? A movement that has really stepped up its game in the past year and killed well over a thousand people in 2009 alone, leading to a massive government response? That's not war in the sense of the Kargil conflict, but it's not exactly minor lawlessness, either.
posted by SpringAquifer at 7:25 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

Let's not quibble over lists. These are powerful photographs.

Those Chadians look like seriously dangerous motherfuckers.
posted by Joe Beese at 7:42 PM on February 23, 2010

I didn't see Chechnya listed. Or Georgia.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:54 PM on February 23, 2010

South Ossetia is mentioned as the Georgian conflict, and Abkhazia is absent. Yeah, overall coverage seems to lack seriousness in its entirety.
posted by jsavimbi at 8:33 PM on February 23, 2010

Those photographs are incredible.
posted by reductiondesign at 9:01 PM on February 23, 2010

This blog provides regularly updated coverage of the Naxalite movement.
posted by Abiezer at 9:37 PM on February 23, 2010

I was just talking about this topic today in class. We used this nicely put together list of all current conflicts. (Wikipedia link)

Thanks for sharing. Interesting link and photographs.
posted by dealing away at 11:56 PM on February 23, 2010

Isn't there supposed to be a cease-fire during the Oly's?
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:03 AM on February 24, 2010

Crazy.
posted by Hicksu at 1:02 AM on February 24, 2010

Bump this thread until there is one reply for each conflict.
posted by fraxil at 5:43 AM on February 24, 2010

Iran, India and Northern Ireland all qualify as "conflicts"?

Why wouldn't they? Violence is being perpetrated (at least sporadically) against either the state or civilians in each place. I've been in four of the countries mentioned (Mexico, Peru, Colombia, India) at various points in the past decade and while there was never an oppressive sense of dread in the air, I wouldn't say any of them are totally at peace.

On the flip side, if frequent gunfire or indiscriminate murders were enough to qualify for a "conflict," parts of the U.S. would be in good company on that list.
posted by kittyprecious at 6:08 AM on February 24, 2010

KokuRyu: Iran, India and Northern Ireland all qualify as "conflicts"?

There was a car bombing in Northern Ireland just a few nights ago. There's still quite a bit of to-and-fro there.
posted by nfg at 8:32 AM on February 24, 2010

You've also got to consider: Cabinda, Basque Country, Corsica, Kurdish Turkey, Kurdish Iran, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Western Sahara/SADR, Algeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Niger, Burundi, Chiapas, the EPR insurgency in Mexico, Balochistan & Eritrea.
posted by snottydick at 8:33 AM on February 24, 2010