[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:1499:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"peace",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","146X8q247g9AmLq62k0ytg","Entry","2022-10-13T09:50:26.595Z","2025-07-22T20:52:34.024Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",84,26,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"isHidden":36,"isRequiredForChallenge":36,"globalId":37,"answers":38,"answersAsImages":36,"wrongPercentage":95,"name":96,"questionText":97,"shortQuestionText":98,"statistics":99,"veryWrongStatistics":102,"correctSentence":105,"youWereWrong":106,"youWereRight":107,"dataSourceShortText":108,"dataSourceLinkLongText":109,"extendedAnswerText":110,"headingVeryWrong":111,"youWereVeryWrong":112,"headingWrong":111},false,"1499",[39,60,78],{"metadata":40,"sys":43,"fields":56},{"tags":41,"concepts":42},[],[],{"space":44,"id":46,"type":21,"createdAt":47,"updatedAt":48,"environment":49,"publishedVersion":51,"revision":52,"contentType":53,"locale":34},{"sys":45},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"4KFwwz68gtDmfU8GW1nMR2","2022-10-13T09:04:50.718Z","2025-07-16T11:00:51.446Z",{"sys":50},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},30,22,{"sys":54},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":55},"answer",{"globalId":57,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":36,"answerText":59},"1499-a1",true,"Around 7%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":75},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":29,"revision":72,"contentType":73,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"s8toCzW60KO2yAtfSvFwP","2022-10-13T09:50:26.657Z","2025-01-22T13:44:13.575Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},20,{"sys":74},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":55},{"globalId":76,"correctAnswer":36,"isVeryWrong":36,"answerText":77},"1499-a2","Around 25%",{"metadata":79,"sys":82,"fields":92},{"tags":80,"concepts":81},[],[],{"space":83,"id":85,"type":21,"createdAt":86,"updatedAt":87,"environment":88,"publishedVersion":29,"revision":72,"contentType":90,"locale":34},{"sys":84},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"4sw8R9haXWUjwyIkZDI8uL","2022-10-13T09:50:26.681Z","2025-01-22T13:44:13.608Z",{"sys":89},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":91},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":55},{"globalId":93,"correctAnswer":36,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":94},"1499-a3","Around 55%",78,"Wars between states 1950 vs today","In the 1950s, 50% of all wars occurred between countries that are recognized as sovereign states by the UN. What is that number today?","In the 1950s, 50% of all wars occurred between countries recognized as sovereign states by the UN. What is it today?",[100,101],"uk 0.721","swe 0.835",[103,104],"uk 0.255","swe 0.2233","Around 5% of all wars today are between countries recognized as sovereign states. ","Since the UN came into existence, there have been fewer international wars between countries (but actually more wars within!)","Since the UN came into existence, there have been fewer wars between countries (but actually more wars within!)\n","Source: Uppsala Conflict Data Program","The data comes from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program which looks at 'State-based' conflicts, which it defines as: “a contested incompatibility that concerns government and\u002For territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a calendar year.” Since the 1950s, the number of conflicts between states has declined, while the number of civil conflicts has increased a lot.\n\n[1]  [Uppsala Conflict Data Program](https:\u002F\u002Fucdp.uu.se\u002Fdownloads\u002F)  \n[2]  [Our World In Data - War and Peace](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Fwar-and-peace)  \n[3]  [UN – A New Era of Conflict and Violence](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.un.org\u002Fen\u002Fun75\u002Fnew-era-conflict-and-violence)  ","After the Second World War, the UN was founded to prevent a third one. Since then, the number of “international armed conflicts” have declined to 5% of all conflicts.  We have experienced 70 years of world peace, in the sense that there has been no armed conflicts between superpowers, which has enabled the fastest ever increase of human progress and prosperity.\n\nThis long period of peace can’t be attributed to the UN alone. There are at least three clear reasons why fewer countries attacked their neighbors during the past 70 years. First: Most colonies became independent, and there are almost no colonial wars any longer; Second: The cold war divided the world into two blocks, the west and the east, which meant most countries saw no reason to attack their allies and they didn’t dare to attack the opposite side because of the threat posed by nuclear weapons; Third: The boom in international trade made it less attractive to attack trading partners.\n\nBut this decline of international conflicts doesn’t mean that all armed conflicts have decreased. Quite the opposite! The amount of civil wars and domestic conflicts within countries have actually increased enormously, as the graph below shows. Some international conflicts are also fought ‘in disguise’. Countries avoid declaring official war, and they instead recruit private military and security companies, criminal gangs, and international terrorist groups to perform attacks in other territories. The graph also shows that many civil conflicts involve armies from other countries. Those are often not recorded as international conflicts, despite the foreign army supporting the domestic army against an internal enemy. \n\n[![graph wars between countries ](\u002F\u002Fimages.ctfassets.net\u002Fghhpjogyw4x7\u002F5odHakhj8yNHizD6BimWxh\u002Fb12480b007fed7b990febd2fcd3f5386\u002Fgraph_wars_countries.png)](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Fgrapher\u002Fnumber-of-state-based-conflicts?country=~OWID_WRL)\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nPeople have a tendency to think that the world today is full of international conflicts like it has always been. The fact that a third world war has been prevented so far is probably the most important fact in the world. It’s only if we realize what a blessing world peace actually is, that we start paying attention to maintaining it. Not understanding how international conflicts has changed since the UN was formed, makes it easy to underestimate the UN’s contribution. The UN is not perfect. But it is the only really effective way we have found for resolving border disputes in diplomatic way instead of with violence.\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nIn the news, we hear about countries mobilizing troops or flying over others’ territories, and and we easily get the impression that there must be more international conflicts now than ever before. It can lead us to think that war today is the same as in the history books, films and documentaries about the two world wars.\n\n### Can I trust the data?\nYes. It comes from the most reputable source, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program which defines 'State-based' conflicts as: “a contested incompatibility that concerns government and\u002For territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a calendar year.” You can access their full catalogue of conflicts and see exactly their criteria in each case. [Since the 1950s, the number of conflicts between states has declined, while the number of civil conflicts has increased a lot.](https:\u002F\u002Fucdp.uu.se\u002Fdownloads\u002F)\n","Wars turned domestic!","Since the UN came into existence, there have been fewer wars between countries (but actually more wars within!)"]