ABSTRACT
This chapter explores trends in conflict diffusion, which is the extent to which armed conflict has involved countries in the global community. It provides an overview of trends in conflict-related fatalities. Armed conflicts vary in terms of how many countries become involved in the fighting. While some conflicts remain relatively isolated affairs, others can involve several states. Researchers and policymakers track trends in global armed conflict because they are concerned foremost with its dreadful consequences. Analysis of trends in the number of conflicts or in the diffusion of global conflict fails to capture the extent of conflict’s devastation. The only global region in which conflict-related fatalities are clearly trending downward is the Americas. Fatality levels in internal conflicts that remain isolated (i.e., do not become internationalized) are trending downward.
