ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses that downward trend in the number of armed conflicts worldwide has leveled off. In the last year of conflict data (2009) obtained from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, there were 26 active armed conflicts worldwide. That number is identical to what was reported in the previous volume of Peace and Conflict. Although the number of conflicts has remained the same, there were several conflict terminations since the last volume that were offset by equal numbers of new onsets and recurrences. To sustain a longer trend, there would have to be clear evidence that the rate of conflict terminations continues to be higher than onsets and recurrences. Five-year period from roughly 1990-1995, there has been little discernible trend in the number of armed conflicts around the world. As reported in Peace and Conflict 2010, growing numbers of conflict recurrences in the past serve as one of the most significant contributors to the stability in conflict trends.
