SIPRI YEARBOOK 1997

1. Major armed conflicts*
Margareta Sollenberg and Peter Wallensteen

In 1996, 27 major armed conflicts were waged in 24 locations around the world, compared with 30 major conflicts and 25 conflict locations in 1995. There is also a downward trend in the number of conflicts for the period 1989-96.

Few comprehensive peace agreements were reached and those which were concluded often ran into trouble regarding implementation. More significantly, the decline in the number of conflicts was mainly because they were inactive rather than because the incompatibility was resolved. This also explains why conflicts have reappeared in the statistics after a time of absence. One conflict which reappeared in the table for 1996 was the interstate conflict between India and Pakistan. All other conflicts were internal, and this was the first time an interstate conflict has been recorded since 1992.

Appendix 1A, by Margareta Sollenberg et al., gives data on the major armed conflicts of 1996.