Key international conflicts examples. Conflicts in the modern world: problems and features of their settlement. "Unbreakable Rock" in Gaza

30.06.2020

18:03 — REGNUM It should be emphasized that class contradictions have not disappeared from the socio-economic life of society. In a world of haves and have-nots, the conflict between these two groups will remain and determine all other conflicts. But to the fore modern world what came out was not a dispute between socialism and capitalism, but a dispute between two versions of capitalism, one of which is called "globalism" and the other "protectionism".

Ivan Shilov © IA REGNUM

It is around these two poles that the forces of supporters of one or another concept will now be grouped. Both supporters of globalism and supporters of protectionism have begun to form their support armies, which include both left and right forces. Left Trotskyists and right-wing liberals are on the side of the globalists, left-wing Stalinists and right-wing monarchists are on the side of the protectionists.

A small layer of moderate conservative liberals wormed their way between them, who run between the trenches and have not yet decided on their location. On some issues they are with the globalists, on others they are with the protectionists. This is a dispute about the just organization of capitalism, not about the replacement of capitalism by communism.

The Zyuganov-Grudinin Union of Pink Communists leaning towards social democracy with the social democrat Babkin leaning towards right-wing liberalism and the right-wing monarchist Strelkov, which also included the imperial sovereigns Kvachkov and Kalashnikov-Kucherenko, their ideological relationship with the left-conservative members of the Izborsk Club and the center-left Starikov - this motley coalition is being formed in response to the consolidation and offensive of right-wing liberal radicals and right-wing center-capitalist ministers of the current government.

This is a situational alliance, tactical and reactive in relation to the threat of a liberal revenge of a globalist nature, seeking to fix Russia on the paths of world globalism. Thus, the maturing change of power does not have the character of a revolution that changes the mode of the economic system, but introduces significant adjustments to the system that already exists on the basis of a multi-structure economy and a state-regulated market.

The whole struggle takes place between supporters of a predominantly open or predominantly closed market economic system and the political system that follows from this.

The global trend is the rise of protectionist tendencies, which are a qualitative transformation of capitalism, which has exhausted the quantitative forms of extensive growth through the expansion of markets. Markets have been exhausted, and now there is a struggle for power in the state, which will have to regulate the transition to high-quality, intensive capitalism and determine the positions taken by the new beneficiaries of the system, that is, the new ruling class.

New - because a global redistribution of the structure and means of influence on society and the economy is coming: the restriction of the banking and financial class and the formation of the state production and redistribution class, using socialist measures of control over the sphere of finance and money circulation.

In the new emerging system, financiers will lose their dominant position and move into the status of clerk's servants and bookkeepers, who are under the control of the state (siloviki) and industrial capital influencing it. This is the revenge of production capital over financial capital. It is clear that wresting global power from the financial clans that have developed over the centuries is a long-term and difficult task, but the other way has been exhausted, because the financial global system no longer gives development and leads to the death of human civilization.

The retreat of the financiers will last the entire current century and in the end will lead to their displacement to the periphery, where they will gain a foothold, but will significantly lose their positions of power. The existence of private property cannot completely eliminate private banking, but it can significantly redistribute the power resource from financiers to industrialists through their influence on officials and politics. It is this consolidation of forces on the eve of the upcoming battle for such a redistribution that is taking place before our very eyes.

In the coming years, the ideological and organizational formation of the camp opposing the liberals will take place and the nomination of its frontmen will begin - leaders who form nationwide demands on the state to curb the globalist financial-liberal forces. After that, these forces will enter into a decisive battle for what the beginning of the century will be like and how the transition from the obsolete way of life to the new one will be arranged.

Globalism and protectionism as phenomena will remain, but the distribution of accents between them will be made in a new way. For the right to place these accents, a fierce struggle began, which we are now seeing everywhere, from remote provinces to the main world centers. New borders will be drawn on the world map, which will reflect not the borders of certain states, but the disposition of two warring armies: the territories conquered by the protectionists, and the footholds on which the globalists have entrenched themselves.

Behind all the confrontations in the world one must be able to see precisely this content. In this confrontation, we are conscripts mobilized by one force or another. No one will be able to sit on the sidelines this time.

During the lesson, everyone will be able to get an idea on the topic "Political conflicts in the modern world." At the beginning of the lesson, we will give a definition of conflict, i.e. the clash of two or more groups that pursue incompatible goals. After that, we will consider in more detail the causes of political conflicts in the modern world.

Theme: Society

Lesson: Political conflicts in the modern world

Hello. Today's lesson is about political conflicts. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to avoid them in the modern world.

A conflict is a clash of two or more forces pursuing incompatible interests.

Positive (Marxism) and negative (functionalism) attitudes towards conflict. Functionalism is a direction in philosophy, whose supporters do not recognize the positive role of social conflict and emphasize cooperation and stability. Revolution as a form not only of development, but also of conflict. Technological revolution - good, but political -?

“He who knows how to deal with conflicts by recognizing and regulating them takes control of the rhythm of history. Anyone who misses this opportunity gets this rhythm as his opponents ”(R. Dahrendorf, Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. R. Dahrendorf

The science of conflictology deals with the study of conflicts.

Conflicts intrastate and interstate. We will consider interstate conflicts.

It is customary to divide all conflicts into political, economic, social and cultural, but now, to a greater extent than before, conflicts in social sphere are of a complex nature.

Example: The Arab-Israeli conflict is considered political, but it also has economic, social, cultural and religious content.

The second characteristic feature of modern conflicts is their globalization. If earlier, as a rule, two countries were the subjects of conflicts, then since the beginning of the 20th century, entire groups of countries have taken part in conflicts - the Entente, the Triple Alliance, the Warsaw Treaty Organization, NATO and others. Therefore, almost any modern political conflict affects the interests of many states. The Entente is a military-political bloc of England, France and Russia (1904-1919), one of the main participants in the First World War. The Triple Alliance is a military-political bloc of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and a number of other countries (1879-1918), which took part in the First World War.

In turn, the globalization of conflicts gives rise to the need for their international settlement. Various groups of countries create joint forces to carry out peacekeeping activities.

An example of such organizations is Shanghai Organization cooperation (2001). CSTO (1992).

Of course, the most important role in resolving international conflicts is played by the United Nations. The UN Security Council may decide to create a peacekeeping mission in a particular region and send the UN "blue helmets" there.

Preventive diplomacy - measures aimed at preventing disagreements between the parties and preventing disputes from escalating into military conflicts.

The third feature of modern political conflicts is that the geography of their distribution has changed significantly. If during the new time there were active wars in European countries, now, after 1945, the developed countries of the West practically do not fight among themselves. "Trade wars" between them happen, but they always end through negotiations.

However, Western countries at the same time faced another problem, also of an international nature. This problem of international terrorism is one of the most acute global problems.

Events 09/11/2001 in the USA.

Explosions in Moscow in 1999.

Stages of resolving political conflicts:

Institutionalization of the conflict - recognition of its existence;

Legitimization of the conflict resolution procedure - the adoption of certain rules for conflict resolution and their observance by all participants;

Structuring conflicting groups - determining the composition of the participants in the conflict and their leaders, the formation of bodies to resolve the conflict.

In any case, a dialogue between all its participants is necessary to resolve the conflict. If people do not want to resolve the conflict, it will last forever.

In addition to interstate conflicts, there are also intrastate conflicts in the form of a struggle for power between various political groups. In the early 1990s, Russia became the scene of the most active struggle for power. We'll talk about this in the next lesson. Our lesson for today is over. Thank you for your attention.

United Nations peacekeeping operations

Currently, there are about 15 UN peacekeeping operations in the world (more than 60 missions in total) (Fig. 2). The largest number operations are carried out in Africa (Sudan, Darfur, Western Sahara, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC) and Asia (Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Afghanistan, the Indo-Pakistani border, East Timor). In America, an operation is being carried out in Haiti. There is a UN mission in Kosovo in Europe.

Rice. 2. UN Operations

Soldiers of UN missions are informally called "blue helmets" (Fig. 3). Currently, about 100 thousand people are involved in operations - most of the countries participating in the conflict. The maximum Russian contingent existed in 1996 and amounted to 1600 people (more than 1300 in Bosnia). Russia is currently represented by about 250 peacekeepers.

Rice. 3. Blue helmets

"Banana War"

In 1993, an economic conflict erupted between Europe and the Americas over the adoption by the EU of common rules for fruit imports. Negotiations were conducted until 1999 and ended with an agreement according to which the EU countries opened their markets for fruits from all over the world and paid compensation to the injured party.

Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said after another round of talks, "Never in my life did I think I would spend so much time talking about bananas."

A. V. Gerasimov*

internal armed conflicts

IN THE MODERN WORLD: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS

Humanity has been familiar with conflict since its inception. Disputes and wars broke out throughout the historical development of society between tribes, cities, countries, blocs of states. In the modern era, the likelihood of large-scale wars has decreased. But instead of the former threat, a new danger of a global scale has appeared. We are talking about numerous armed conflicts within states that arise as a result of political, religious or ethnic contradictions between their citizens.1 The events of the last decade of the past century have shown that “internal war” easily breaks out in any country where, in addition to a suitable ground (clash of interests of social or ethnic groups), at least the most minor concomitant conditions appear (for example, support from abroad).

For Russia, the problem of conflicts and their settlement is particularly relevant. The internal armed conflict in the Chechen Republic not only affected the fundamental national values, but also made it necessary to check in practice the relationship between the goals and means of ensuring internal security in terms of the scope and limits of the use of force. Assessing the prospects for the development of the regional socio-political situation in Russian Federation, as well as the military-political situation in the border areas of some countries of the near abroad (recent events in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan), it can be said with confidence that the existing level of conflict will continue, and the problem

* Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor, Head. Department of Social and Humanitarian Disciplines of the Moscow Branch of the Leningrad state university named after A. S. Pushkin.

1 According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, today there are 160 zones of ethno-political tension on the planet, 80 of them have all the attributes of unresolved conflicts. At the joint Russian-NATO conference of representatives of military departments and scientists in the field of international law, held in April 2000, it was noted that since the turn of the 90s a new round in the history of internal armed conflicts begins, they become dominant in international practice. In some cases, the participation of the international community, including peacekeeping forces, will be required to localize them. (See: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, April 18, 2000).

settlement of internal armed conflicts in the short term will not lose its relevance.

The main problem here remains the development by state bodies of an optimal model for managing an internal armed conflict, ways to apply special political and legal regimes to resolve issues of its localization and settlement. In order to prevent conflicts from turning into armed conflicts, and if this did happen, to be able to end them as soon as possible and create maximum guarantees for their non-resumption after reaching a settlement, it is necessary to deeply understand the causes and nature of internal armed conflicts.

Correlation between the concepts of "military conflict", "armed conflict" and "war"

In recent years, many concepts related to the use of military force have emerged. In particular, in modern scientific literature, UN documents and materials, to qualify events in a particular country (region), the following concepts are used: war (civil, national liberation, local, regional), conflict (armed, military, interethnic, ethno-political, confessional ), etc. The use of these concepts as synonyms creates the preconditions for the distortion of meaning and makes it difficult to adequately perceive the nature of the social phenomena they denote. Each of the concepts characterizes a completely definite state of political or military-political relations, which has its own specific features. Therefore, all the parties involved in the conflict or in its settlement should not only operate with categories of the same order, but also see the same content in them, that is, “speak the same language”. In this case, Descartes' advice - "specify the meaning of words, and you will rid the world of half of the delusions" - will only bring benefits.

The main confusion occurs in such concepts as military conflict, armed conflict, war.

As you know, war is a socio-political phenomenon, a special state of society associated with a sharp change in relations between states, peoples, social groups and with the organized use of armed violence to achieve political goals. From the point of view of tactics, war is defined as "a confrontation between two

and more autonomous groups of states, causing authorized, organized, protracted hostilities in which the entire group or, in most cases, part of it is involved in order to improve its material, social, political or psychological state, or in general realizing the chances of survival.2

Most political scientists and military experts believe that the line between war and armed conflict is arbitrary. We can agree with this. But there are a number of essential criteria that make it possible to determine the differences between them, as well as the place and role of each of these social phenomena in public life.

First, the war is conditioned by the presence of fundamental contradictions - economic, political - and is waged with decisive goals. The resolution of contradictions with the help of military force is caused by the awareness and need to realize the vital interests of society and the state. Therefore, in the war there is always an organizational principle. In an armed conflict, as a rule, national-ethnic, clan, religious and other interests derived from the main ones and the contradictions caused by them come to the fore. Armed conflicts can take the form of spontaneous or deliberately organized uprisings, rebellions, military actions and incidents, depending on who owns the "conflicting" interests, who is their bearer.

Secondly, the war leads to a qualitative change in the state of the entire country and the armed forces. Many state institutions begin to perform specific functions. The centralization of power, the concentration of all the forces of the country are intensifying, the economy and the entire life of society are being rebuilt to achieve victory. Full or partial mobilization of the armed forces and the economy is being carried out. An armed conflict, unlike a war, basically determines the state of the armed forces or their parts. Combat operations, as a rule, are carried out by part of the combat strength of peacetime troops.

Thirdly, in a war, the relevant institutions of the state use all forms of struggle - political, diplomatic, informational, economic, armed, etc., and in armed conflicts, the parties may limit themselves to armed clashes,

2 Pershits A. I., Semenov Yu. I., Shnilerman V. A. War and peace in the early history of mankind: In 2 volumes / Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS. M., 1994. T. 1. S. 56.

sometimes spontaneous, although the organized use of other forms of confrontation by them, primarily informational, is not ruled out.

Fourth, from a legal point of view, war is characterized by such signs as the formal act of its declaration (this is required by the Hague Convention of 1907); the severance of diplomatic relations between the belligerent states and the annulment of the treaties that regulated the peaceful relations of these states; the introduction of martial law (state of emergency) on the territory of the belligerent states (or part of it) and a number of others.

Thus, an armed conflict does not contain the main features inherent in war as a special state of society, as well as the necessary legal criteria that define it as a war. Therefore, the concept of "armed conflict" is not identical with the concept of "war" and vice versa. A well-known principle follows from this: any war is an armed conflict, but not any armed conflict is a war.

The concept of "military conflict", the defining feature of which is only the use of military force to achieve political goals, serves as an integrator for the other two - armed conflict and war. Military conflict - any clash, confrontation, a form of resolving contradictions between states, peoples, social groups with the use of military force. Depending on the goals of the parties and scale indicators, such as the spatial scope, the forces and means involved, the intensity of the armed struggle, military conflicts can be divided into limited (armed conflicts, local and regional wars) and unlimited ( World War). In relation to military conflicts, sometimes, most often in foreign literature, such terms as conflicts of small scale (low intensity), medium scale (medium intensity), large scale (high intensity) are used.

According to some researchers, a military conflict is a form of interstate conflict characterized by such a clash of interests of the warring parties that use military means with varying degrees of limitation to achieve their goals. Armed conflict is a conflict between medium and large social groups in which the parties use

armaments (armed formations), excluding armed forces.3 Armed conflicts are open clashes with the use of weapons between two or more centrally led parties, continuously lasting for some time in a dispute over the control and administration of territory.

Other authors call contradictions between the subjects of military-strategic relations a military conflict, emphasizing the degree of aggravation of these contradictions and the form of their resolution (with the use of armed forces on a limited scale).4 Military experts understand an armed conflict as any conflict involving the use of weapons. In contrast, in a military conflict, the presence of political motives in the use of weapons is mandatory. In other words, the essence of a military conflict is the continuation of politics with the use of military violence.

Among military specialists, there is the concept of a limited military conflict, a conflict associated with a change in the status of a particular territory that affects the interests of the state, and with the use of means of armed struggle. In such a conflict, the number of warring parties ranges from 7 to 30 thousand people, up to 150 tanks, up to 300 armored vehicles, 10-15 light aircraft, up to 20 helicopters.5

Terminological vagueness in determining the nature of an armed conflict can lead to inadequate actions by various actors to prevent or resolve it. So, if the events in any country are assessed as preparation for a local war, then to participate in them power structures it is important to know exactly the expected scope of hostilities and their nature. If a we are talking about an internal (or border) armed conflict, then the composition of the forces should be different, as well as the nature of the hostilities. Otherwise, subunits and units preparing, for example, for a conflict, in the event of war, will not be able to solve their tasks and will suffer significant losses in manpower and equipment.

In addition, quite often certain domestic

3 See: Antsiulov A. Ya., Shipilov A. I. Conflictology: Textbook for universities. M., 1999.

4 See: Manokhin A. V., Tkachev V. C. Military conflicts: theory, history, practice: Tutorial. M., 1994. S. 11 - 12.

5 See: Russia's National Security: Reality and Prospects. M., 1996.

armed conflicts are classified as interethnic - in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia, etc. However, this overlooks the socio-political content of the contradictions that exist in relations between the subjects of confrontation. This is done, as a rule, in order to warm up ordinary consciousness on the wave of nationalism and direct dissatisfaction against representatives of a certain nationality or ethnic community, which is fraught with an expansion of the scale of the conflict. Under these conditions, political leaders themselves become hostages of nationalist extremism.

Inadequate assessments of the subjects of the confrontation lead to the prolongation of the armed conflict, strengthening its negative consequences. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the main subjects of confrontation in wars and military conflicts were: states (coalitions of states); national liberation movements and organizations; ruling regimes(central governments) and armed opposition groups in intrastate conflicts. In world practice, assessments of these subjects are carried out from different positions and in various aspects: from the point of view of external forces, all opposing sides are evaluated; from the point of view of one of them, mainly opponents and their allies are considered. In assessing a particular subject, attention is drawn to his political interests, goals, means; the size and composition of the armed forces or military formations; the possibility of obtaining weapons from other countries; social base, etc.6

The experience of many conflicts shows that underestimation of political and military capabilities is fraught with grave consequences and even defeat in a war (conflict). Thus, in the conflict in the Persian Gulf region (1990 - 1991), Iraq had a military power that greatly exceeded the military capabilities of Kuwait, but did not take into account the fact that multinational forces could be used against it. In the conflict in the Chechen Republic (1994 - 1995), the federal forces were tasked with disarming illegal military formations numbering 15,000 people (about 6 regiments), but the fighting went on to defeat and destroy them. After two months of fighting, during which Dudayev's supporters

6 See: RylskayaM. A. To the question of the problem of conflict resolution // Problems of the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs and Internal Troops in extreme conditions: Sat. scientific tr. M .: VNII of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 1997. S. 27.

lost about 6 thousand people, the number of opposition detachments was still about 15 thousand people and the prospects for their disarmament remained uncertain.

In accordance with the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation: “An armed conflict may be international in nature (with the participation of two or more states) or non-international, internal in nature (with the conduct of armed confrontation within the territory of one state). An armed conflict is characterized by: high involvement in it and vulnerability of the local population; the use of irregular armed formations; widespread use of sabotage and terrorist methods; the complexity of the moral and psychological environment in which the troops operate; forced diversion of significant forces and resources to ensure the security of movement routes, areas and locations of troops (forces); danger of transformation into a local (international armed conflict) or civil (internal armed conflict) war.”7

In armed conflicts, states do not go into a special state characteristic of wars (internal armed conflicts, armed incidents, border clashes and military actions). A special place in this series is occupied by civil wars, in which, under certain conditions, internal armed conflicts can develop. Unlike internal armed conflicts, where the political goals are the problems of self-determination and territorial belonging, the assertion of the uniqueness of socio-cultural, national and confessional values, the goal of a civil war is the struggle for state power.

Concept of internal armed conflict

Internal armed conflict in the Dictionary of Human Rights refers to any armed conflict that is not an armed conflict between two or more states, even if the conflict involves foreign military advisers, unofficial military armed groups or mercenaries. Such conflicts take place within the territory of a State between the splintered parts of the armed forces of that State, or other organized armed groups which, under the responsible command

7 Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation (approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of April 21, 2000 No. 706) // Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation. 2000.- No. 17. Art. 1852..

exercise control over part of its territory, which allows them to conduct long-term and coordinated military operations. This category includes civil war, guerrilla warfare, insurrection (low to medium intensity conflict). A civil war is directly recognized as a form of armed struggle between organized groups fighting for state power, where one side is usually the forces protecting the existing regime, and the other

A partisan movement supported by a part of the population and/or a foreign state.8

An armed conflict in the Russian Federation is officially understood as an armed incident, an armed action and other armed clashes of a limited scale, which may result from an attempt to resolve national, ethnic, religious and other contradictions with the help of armed struggle.9 In our opinion, the wording used does not make it possible to distinguish armed conflict, even from the situation of internal tension.10 Thus, representatives of the parties to the conflict are not required not only to be organized under responsible command, but even to be distinct from the civilian population. As noted by representatives of foreign conflictology, during times of tension, conflicts are usually an asymmetric guerrilla war waged by groups of civilians as a result of the limited military capabilities of the rebels, the lack of weapons and the lack of necessary control over the territory.11

Internal disturbances are usually understood as situations that do not have signs of a non-international armed conflict as such, but are characterized by the presence in the country of confrontation, which is characterized by a certain intensity or duration, in which there are acts of violence. The latter can take a wide variety of forms, ranging from spontaneous outbreaks of rebellion to struggle between more or less organized groups and the government. AT

8 Dictionary of Human Rights / Ed. A. D. Jongman and A. P. Schmid. M., 1996.

9 Military doctrine of the Russian Federation. Art. 1852.

10 Internal tension - the preventive use of force by the state in order to maintain peace and the rule of law.

11 Eide A. The new humanitarian law in non-international armed conflict. N. Y 1978.

In such situations, which do not necessarily escalate into open fighting, the authorities mobilize reinforced contingents of the police or even the armed forces to restore internal order.12

Typically, individuals who are part of the anti-government armed forces fight government forces in order to seize power in the country; either for achieving greater autonomy within the state; or for the separation of part of the territory and the creation of their own state. The exception is when a people rises up against colonial rule, exercising its right to sovereignty. It should be noted that with the adoption of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, national liberation wars began to be considered an international armed conflict (clause 4, article 1 of the Protocol), although so far some authors, in particular L. Dispo, a French researcher of terrorism, in In his book The Terror Machine, he proposes to consider national liberation movements as a variety of terrorism.13

The ambiguity of approaches to the assessment of this or that armed confrontation within one state was fully reflected in the policy of the Russian Federation regarding the qualification of the situation in Chechnya since the early 1990s. Despite repeated calls by various politicians to give a legal assessment of the events in Chechnya since 1990, the official point of view on this issue has not been formulated, except for lapidary phrases scattered in various resolutions, decrees, and other legislative and executive acts. and judicial authorities.

Yes, in the decision State Duma The Russian Federation of March 12, 1997 gives the following definition of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic: “Under the armed conflict specified in paragraph 1 of the Decree on the declaration of amnesty, one should understand the confrontation between:

Armed associations, detachments, squads, other armed formations created and operating in violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as illegal armed formations), and internal affairs bodies, subdivisions of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops and military formations of the Russian Federation;

12 Conference of Government Experts. Vol. V. Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. ICRC. Geneva, 1971. P. 79.

13 DispotL. La machine a terreur. P., 1978. P. 57.

Illegal armed formations created to achieve certain political goals;

Persons who were not members of illegal armed formations, but who participated in the confrontation.”14

Same organ state power defines the situation of an armed conflict: “The Russian Federation is conducting an anti-terrorist operation, freeing the territory of the Chechen Republic from illegal armed formations”15. Note that the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not contain the term “counter-terrorist operation”.

Analyzing the situation in Chechnya, V.V. Ustinov believes that at the initial stage between the Russian Federation and this republic there was an intrastate political conflict, illegitimate in terms of means and methods of its implementation, which grew into a non-international armed conflict in the stage of the response of the federal authorities.16

Trying to justify the measures taken, some authors insist that there was already a local armed conflict on the territory of Chechnya by the time federal troops were brought into its territory, which is regarded under international law as an armed conflict of a non-international character, aggravated by rampant lawlessness. And they draw the following conclusion: in such a situation, according to the norms of international law, Russia had every right to exercise its sovereignty and fulfill "the duty by all legal means to maintain or restore law and order in the state or to protect the national unity and territorial integrity of the state"17. Recall that in a situation of armed conflict, according to the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation, a mandatory declaration of a state of emergency is expected, which has not been done so far. One way or another, no matter how the situation in Chechnya has been classified since the early 1990s, according to its characteristics, it falls under the definition of an armed conflict within the meaning of the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation of 2000.

Political and legal analysis of the Chechen conflict allows

15 Decree of the State Duma dated 11/17/99 No. 4556-11 of the State Duma “On the political situation in the Chechen Republic” // Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation. 1999. No. 47. Art. 5679.

16 Ustinov VV International experience in combating terrorism. Standards and practice. M., 2003. S. 310.

17 Additional Protocol II of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 Art. 3 // Current international law: in 3 volumes / Comp. Yu. M. Kolosov and E. S. Krivchikova. M., 1997. T. 2. S. 794.

define it as an internal conflict, meaning by this a hostile interaction between the state and an opposition group or organization opposing it, aimed at changing, including by violent means, the political community, political regime or political authorities of the state. From these positions, the Chechen conflict, according to the intentions of the opposition, from the very beginning was a political legitimate conflict aimed at changing the political system of Russia - the political community of the Russian state. According to the nature of the means used of this kind, violent actions in opposition to the federal authorities in international practice are assessed as a “mutiny” or “uprising.”18

Based on the above definitions, as well as an analysis of the course of many social conflicts within a state, we determine that, in the general case, an internal armed conflict should be understood as any clash, confrontation, form of resolving contradictions between conflicting parties within the territory of one state with the use of military force to achieve certain political goals. On the one hand, an internal armed conflict (IAC) is a crisis form of an emergency situation of a socio-political nature, the causes of which can be both conflicts different kind(economic, political, interethnic, regional, etc.), and emergency circumstances of a criminal nature. On the other hand, VVK is a form of resolving contradictions between social formations using forceful methods.

Internal armed conflict as an object of international law

International humanitarian law distinguishes between ARTs, which are covered by the provisions of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and ARTs, which are narrowly worded and governed by Additional Protocol No. II of 1977.19 Originally in Article 3, governing public relations, arising during a non-international armed conflict, there were no

18 See: for more details: Institute for Analysis and Management of Conflicts and Stability. Russian Association for Theory and Modeling of International Relations. Chechen conflict (1991 - 1996): assessments, analysis, solutions (summary). M., 1997. S. 2 - 6.

19 See: International Human Rights Instruments: Collection of Documents. M., 2000. S. 480 - 487.

given its definition as such. In fact, a minimum of guarantees were provided to the victims of the internal armed confrontation, and there were no specific criteria for classifying the conflict as an internal armed confrontation.

The first official concept of an armed conflict of a non-international character was given in 1977 in Additional Protocol No. II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949.20 It should be noted here that in the process of developing a definition, three directions developed. The first group of experts presented such an option: a non-international conflict takes place only if the state itself recognizes it on its territory. Representatives of another group proposed to consolidate the possibility of a free assessment of the situation by the absence of a definition. Still others insisted on accompanying the definition given in Art. 1 of the Additional Protocol, provisions emphasizing the conditions under which a given armed conflict should be considered a non-international armed conflict, namely: the organization of the parties; the intensity and duration of the conflict; the presence of a collision of the parties.

The vulnerability of the first position lay in the fact that, both then and still, states are very reluctant to recognize the existence of an armed conflict on their territory. So, leaving it up to them to assess the situation, it could be argued with a high degree of certainty that the good goals of Additional Protocol II would not have been achieved. The same can be said about the second project. The absence of any criteria that would qualify the confrontation as an internal armed conflict would leave room for abuse in its interpretation. The position of the third group turned out to be closer to the authors of the Protocol.

The final version, submitted for signing of the Protocol, contained the following wording: armed conflict of a non-international character is understood as “armed conflicts in the territory of a High Contracting Party between its armed forces and anti-government21 armed forces or other organized armed groups that are located

20 See: Schindler D. International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights. M., 1994. S. 6.

21 The term “government” is used in this context not in a narrow sense, denoting the highest body of executive power, but a system of state bodies, primarily legislative and executive, and relevant officials.

under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out continuous and concerted hostilities and to apply this Protocol.” It should be noted that these, within the meaning of the Protocol, do not include cases of violation of the internal order and the emergence of a situation of internal tension: riots, individual and sporadic acts of violence and other actions of a similar nature. The use of such a wording nevertheless left the states with the possibility of a broad interpretation, and hence, a different qualification of the armed confrontation taking place on their territories.

In fact, for an armed confrontation to be classified as a non-international armed conflict, it must meet certain criteria. So, you need:

So that the confrontation develops intensively and with the use of weapons from both sides;

The use of the army by the government due to the impossibility of managing the situation only by the police (militia);

The organization of the armed forces of the rebels and the mandatory presence of a command responsible for their actions.

Despite the fact that Additional Protocol II answered the question of what a non-international armed conflict is, this did not always make it easier to identify armed clashes, including those of an intense nature, with such a conflict. Even in the theory of international law, there was no unequivocal position on this matter. According to I.P. Blishchenko, only a civil war can be considered an internal armed conflict. character as "an internal situation of the collective use of force". D. Schindler generally refuses generalizing formulations and simply classifies non-international armed conflicts, which, in his opinion, include:

Civil war in the classical sense of international law as a non-international armed conflict of high intensity, in

22 Blishchenko I.P. Non-international armed conflict and international law // Soviet state and law. 1973. No. 11. S. 131.

in which third states can recognize the status of a belligerent country for a newly created government;

Non-international armed conflict within the meaning of Art. 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949;

Non-international armed conflict within the meaning of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of 194923

With regard to the distinction between genuine armed conflicts on the one hand and ordinary acts of banditry or unorganized short-term riots on the other, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda referred in one of its decisions to the following criteria:

A party to a conflict that has rebelled against the Government de jure. has organized armed forces, an authority responsible for their actions, operating in a certain territory and having the ability to comply with and enforce the Convention;

The legitimate government is forced to resort to the use of regular armed forces against the insurgents, organized into military structures that control part of the state's territory;

The legitimate government recognized the rebels as a belligerent, or

It has declared that it has the rights of a belligerent, or

It has recognized the rebels as a belligerent solely for the purposes of this Convention, or

The conflict was put on the agenda of the Security Council or the UN General Assembly as posing a threat to international peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression.”24

The emergence of internal armed conflicts in modern conditions is accompanied by a number of negative phenomena. First, any crisis leads to a weakening of the state. The consequences of the internal armed conflict affect all spheres of state activity and bear huge economic losses and human losses. According to the most rough estimates from 1988 to 1996, the victims of conflicts

23 See: Schindler D. International Committee of the Red Cross ... S. 6.

24 This study is submitted by the International Committee of the Red Cross as a background document to assist the Preparatory Commission in its work to establish the elements of crimes for the International Criminal Court. See: International Committee of the Red Cross: Working Papers. M., 1999. S. 19.

more than 100,000 people ended up on the territory of the former USSR, and the economic damage amounted to 15 billion US dollars. According to experts, the restoration of the Chechen economy alone will cost the state budget approximately 7 trillion. rubles.25

The people show their dissatisfaction with the government, which does not suit them, in different ways. So, against the weakened Russian state, Chechnya voted with arms in hand. A similar situation developed at one time in colonial Algeria, where hundreds of people died a year. Nevertheless, France managed to avoid mass bloodshed and not start a war. The situation is exactly the opposite in Vietnam. American intervention only delayed the national armed clash for 15 years. But its completion turned out to be exactly the same as without the intervention of the half-million Pentagon contingent.

Another negative aspect that accompanies the emergence of internal armed conflicts is the emergence in a certain part of society of confidence that the fight with the central government can be won. This is what happens in the case of Chechnya. On this basis, false ideological stereotypes arise, for example, a different from the state (generally accepted) understanding of history among the separatists and the segments of the population supporting them. Moreover, many historical facts are interpreted completely wrong. Thus, an ideological base is being created for the armed struggle against the central government.

Thirdly, conflicts are necessarily accompanied or provoked by the dissatisfaction of the population with the existing economic conditions. The case of Chechnya is also indicative in this regard: income levels in the North Caucasus are 2.5 times lower than in Russia as a whole.26

Fourthly, all parties involved in the conflict have a sufficient number of weapons. When the flow of its receipt is blocked, the conflict stalls on its own. For example, Eritrea gained independence only because Ethiopia ran out of weapons.

When analyzing internal armed conflicts, it is very important to see the forms and methods of action by the parties to resolve them. At the same time, it should be noted that the artificial limitation of the scale and scope of the conflict, which can include its localization (prohibition to grow beyond a certain region), neutralization (deprivation of

25 Gordin Ya. A. Russia and Chechnya: Searching for a way out: (collection). SPb., 2003. S. 35.

military capabilities of the driving forces, bleeding) is in principle only a delay in the time of its resolution. History knows many examples of such a sluggish development of conflicts (the Russian-Japanese territorial dispute and the absence of a peace treaty in connection with it; the Iranian-Iraqi and Indo-Pakistani conflicts, etc.). In these areas, as a rule, military-political tension and the danger of unleashing new conflicts remain. With regard to internal armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space and the territory of the Russian Federation, these are the Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgian-Abkhaz, Transnistrian, Ossetian-Ingush and Chechen conflicts.

Thus, limiting the scale and scope can be acceptable only in the conditions of the military phase of the conflict. At the same time, the main goal of military operations should be to create conditions for its resolution by peaceful means. An internal armed conflict, whatever its driving forces and objectives, cannot be resolved by measures of a purely military nature. Unlike global wars, there are no and cannot be military victories in internal armed conflicts. Any conquest will in fact be an unstable success. The victory point, which means the end of the armed confrontation, can only be a national and political agreement based on compromises and mutual concessions.

At the stage of stabilization of the socio-political situation, after the completion of direct hostilities, it is necessary to carry out not only a complex of law enforcement, but also special measures to ensure law and order and security. When the fight against irregular (including partisan) formations becomes the main content of the armed confrontation, the main burden falls on special forces and units. World experience in the use of "forces special operations” exists and is actively used, Russian practice in this matter is very small.

Summing up, we note that an internal armed conflict is an exceptional measure in terms of measures taken to resolve it and the highest form of intrastate conflict in terms of the level of social tension. Like any social phenomenon, it is characterized by certain and characteristic features. An internal armed conflict is one of the forms of forceful resolution of socio-political contradictions.

globalism vs protectionism

It must be emphasized that class contradictions have not disappeared from the socio-economic life of society. In a world of haves and have-nots, the conflict between these two groups will remain and determine all other conflicts. But what has come to the fore in the modern world is not the dispute between socialism and capitalism, but the dispute between two versions of capitalism, one of which is called "globalism" and the other "protectionism".

The union of the pink Zyuganov-Grudinin Communists leaning towards social democracy with the social democrat Babkin leaning towards right-wing liberalism and the right-wing monarchist Strelkov, which also included the imperial sovereigns Kvachkov and Kalashnikov-Kucherenko, their ideological relationship with the left-conservative members of the Izborsk Club and center-left Starikov - this motley coalition is formed in response to the consolidation and offensive of right-liberal radicals and right-center capitalist ministers of the current government.

The whole struggle takes place between supporters of a predominantly open or predominantly closed market economic system and the political system that follows from this.

New - because a global redistribution of the structure and means of influence on society and the economy is coming: limiting the banking and financial class and the formation of a state production and redistribution class, using socialist measures of control over the sphere of finance and money circulation.

In the coming years, the ideological and organizational formation of the camp opposing the liberals will take place and the nomination of its frontmen will begin - leaders who form nationwide demands on the state to curb the globalist financial-liberal forces. After that, these forces will enter into a decisive battle for what the beginning of the century will be like, and how the transition from the obsolete way of life to the new one will be arranged.

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September 21 is the International Day of Peace and the day of the universal ceasefire and non-violence. But today, almost four dozen hot spots have been recorded in the world. Where and for what humanity is fighting today - in the material TUT.BY.

Gradation of conflicts:

Armed conflict of low intensity- confrontation for religious, ethnic, political and other reasons. It is characterized by a low level of attacks and victims - less than 50 per year.

Armed conflict of moderate intensity- episodic terrorist attacks and military operations with the use of weapons. It is characterized by an average level of victims - up to 500 per year.

Armed conflict of high intensity- constant fighting with the use of conventional weapons and weapons mass destruction(with the exception of nuclear weapons); involvement of foreign states and coalitions. Such conflicts are often accompanied by massive and numerous terrorist attacks. It is characterized by a high level of victims - from 500 per year or more.

Europe, Russia and Transcaucasia

Conflict in Donbas

Status: regular clashes between separatists and the Ukrainian military, despite the ceasefire

Start: year 2014

Number of dead: from April 2014 to August 2017 - more than 10 thousand people

City of Debaltseve, Donbass, Ukraine. February 20, 2015. Photo: Reuters

The armed conflict in Donbas began in the spring of 2014. Pro-Russian activists, encouraged by Russia's annexation of Crimea and dissatisfied with the new government in Kyiv, proclaimed the creation of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. After an attempt by the new Ukrainian authorities to suppress the demonstrations by force in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, a full-scale armed conflict began, which has been dragging on for three years.

The situation in Donbass is on the world agenda as Kyiv accuses Moscow of helping the self-proclaimed republics, including through direct military intervention. The West supports these accusations, Moscow consistently denies them.

The conflict moved from the active phase to the phase of medium intensity after the launch of "" and the beginning.

But in the east of Ukraine, they are still shooting, people are dying from both sides.

Caucasus and Nagorno-Karabakh

There are two more hotspots of instability in the region, which are classified as armed conflicts.

The war in the early 1990s between Azerbaijan and Armenia led to the formation of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (). Large-scale hostilities were last recorded here, then about 200 people died on both sides. But local armed clashes in which Azerbaijanis and Armenians perish, .

Despite all the efforts of Russia, the situation in the Caucasus remains extremely difficult: counter-terrorist operations are constantly carried out in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, Russian special services report on the elimination of gangs and terrorist cells, but the flow of messages does not decrease.

Middle East and North Africa

The whole region in 2011 was shocked by "". From then to the present, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Egypt have been hotspots in the region. In addition, the armed confrontation in Iraq and Turkey has been going on for many years.

War in Syria

Status: constant fighting

Start: 2011

Number of dead: from March 2011 to August 2017 - from 330,000 to

Panorama of eastern Mosul in Iraq on March 29, 2017. For more than a year, battles continued for this city. Photo: Reuters

After the US invasion in 2003 and the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, Civil War and rebellion against the coalition government. And in 2014, part of the country's territory was seized by militants of the Islamic State. Now a motley company is fighting the terrorists: the Iraqi army, supported by US troops, Kurds, local Sunni tribes and Shiite formations. In the summer of this year, the largest city under the control of ISIS, is currently fighting for control of the province of Anbar.

Radical Islamist groups are fighting Baghdad not only on the battlefield, but in Iraq constantly with numerous casualties.

Libya

Status: regular clashes between different factions

Start: 2011

Aggravation: year 2014

Number of dead: from February 2011 to August 2017 — t 15,000 to 30,000

The conflict in Libya also began with the "Arab Spring". In 2011, the United States and NATO supported the protesters against the Gaddafi regime with airstrikes. The revolution won, Muammar Gaddafi was killed by the crowd, but the conflict did not die out. In 2014, a new civil war broke out in Libya, and since then dual power has reigned in the country - in the east of the country, in the city of Tobruk, the parliament elected by the people sits, and in the west, in the capital Tripoli, the Government of National Accord, formed with the support of the UN and Europe, is ruled by Fayez Sarraj. In addition, there is a third force - the Libyan National Army, which is at war with the militants of the "Islamic State" and other radical groups. The situation is complicated by the internecine strife of local tribes.

Yemen

Status: regular missile and air strikes, clashes between various factions

Start: year 2014

Number of dead: from February 2011 to September 2017 - more than 10 thousand people

Yemen is another country that has been in conflict since the Arab Spring in 2011. President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, handed over his powers to the vice-president of the country, Abd Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, who won early elections a year later. However, he failed to retain power in the country: in 2014, a civil war broke out between Shiite rebels (Houthis) and the Sunni government. Al-Hadi supported Saudi Arabia, which, together with other Sunni monarchies and with the consent of the United States, helps with both ground operations and air strikes. Also joined the fight ex-president Saleh, who is supported by part of the Shiite rebels and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Double in Ankara on October 10, 2015, at the site of the trade union rally “Labor. World. Democracy". Its participants advocated the cessation of hostilities between the Turkish authorities and the Kurds. According to official figures, the number of victims was 97 people. Photo: Reuters

The armed confrontation between the Turkish government and the PKK fighters, who are fighting for the creation of Kurdish autonomy within Turkey, has been going on since 1984 to the present. In the past two years, the conflict has escalated: the Turkish authorities accused the Kurds of several, after which they carried out sweeps.

Knife Intifada and Lebanon

There are several other hotspots in the region, which military experts refer to as "armed conflicts" of low intensity.

First of all, this is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the next aggravation of which was called "". Between 2015 and 2016, there were more than 250 attacks by Islamic radicals armed with cold weapons against Israelis. As a result, 36 Israelis, 5 foreigners and 246 Palestinians were killed. Knife and screwdriver attacks have faded this year, but armed attacks continue: in July, three Arabs attacked one Israeli police officer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Another smoldering hotspot is Lebanon. The smoldering conflict in Lebanon is at a low intensity only due to the emphasized neutrality of the authorities regarding the civil war in Syria and the related conflict in Lebanon between Sunnis and Shiites. The Shiites of Lebanon and the Hezbollah group support the pro-Assad coalition, the Sunnis oppose, and the radical Islamist groups oppose the Lebanese authorities. Periodically there are armed clashes and terrorist attacks occur: the largest of them in recent times was a double terrorist attack in Beirut in 2015, as a result of which.

Asia and the Pacific

Afghanistan

Status: constant terrorist attacks and armed clashes

Beginning of the conflict: 1978

Escalation of the conflict: year 2001

Number of dead: from 2001 to August 2017 - more than 150,000 people

Medics at a hospital in Kabul examine a boy who was injured in a terrorist attack on September 15, 2017. On this day in Kabul, a mined tank truck was blown up at a checkpoint leading to the diplomatic quarter.

After the 9/11 attacks, NATO and the US military contingent entered Afghanistan. The Taliban regime was overthrown, but a military conflict began in the country: the government of Afghanistan, with the support of NATO and US forces, is fighting the Taliban and Islamist groups associated with al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Despite the fact that 13,000 NATO and US troops still remain in Afghanistan, and discussions are underway about whether it should be, terrorist activity in the country remains high: dozens of people die in the republic every month.

The smoldering Kashmir conflict and the internal problems of India and Pakistan

In 1947, two states were formed on the territory of the former British India - India and Pakistan. The division took place on a religious basis: the provinces with a predominantly Muslim population went to Pakistan, and with a Hindu majority - to India. But not everywhere: despite the fact that the majority of the population of Kashmir were Muslims, this region was annexed to India.

Residents of the province of Kashmir stand on the rubble of three houses destroyed by artillery strikes by the Pakistani military. This strike was carried out in response to the shelling of Pakistani territories by Indian troops, who, in turn, responded to the attack by militants, in their opinion, who arrived from Pakistan. Photo: Reuters

Since then Kashmir is a disputed territory between the two countries and the cause of three Indo-Pakistani wars and several smaller military conflicts. According to various sources, over the past 70 years, he claimed about 50 thousand lives. In April 2017, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research published an annual report that mentioned the Kashmir conflict as one of those that could provoke a military conflict with the use of nuclear weapons. Both India and Pakistan are members of the "club of nuclear powers" with an arsenal of several dozen nuclear warheads.

In addition to the general conflict, each of the countries has several hot spots with varying degrees of intensity, all of which are recognized by the international community as military conflicts.

There are three of them in Pakistan: separatist movements in the western province Balochistan, the fight against the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan group in an unrecognized state Waziristan and clashes between Pakistani security forces and various militant groups in the semi-autonomous region" Federally Administered Tribal Areas» (FATA). Radicals from these regions attack government buildings, law enforcement officers and stage terrorist attacks.

There are four hotspots in India. Three Indian states Assam, Nagaland and Manipur due to religious-ethnic clashes, nationalist and separatist movements are strong, which do not disdain terrorist attacks and hostage-taking.

And in 20 of the 28 Indian states, there are Naxalites - Maoist battle groups who demand the creation of free self-governing zones, where they (well, of course!) Will build the most real and correct communism. Naxalites practice attacks on officials and government troops and arrange more than half of the attacks in India. The country's authorities have officially declared the Naxalites terrorists and call them the main internal threat to the country's security.

Myanmar

Not so long ago, the media, which usually does not pay attention to third world countries, focused attention.

In this country, in August, the religious and ethnic conflict between the inhabitants of the state of Rakhine, the Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims, escalated. Hundreds of separatists from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ASRA) attacked 30 police strongholds and killed 15 police and military personnel. After that, the troops launched an anti-terrorist operation: in just one week, 370 Rohingya separatists were killed by the military, and 17 local residents were accidentally killed. How many people died in Myanmar in September is still unknown. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh, causing a humanitarian crisis.

Southern Thailand

A number of radical Islamic organizations advocate the independence of the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat from Thailand and demand either the creation of an independent Islamic state or the inclusion of the provinces into Malaysia.

Thai soldiers inspect the site of an explosion at a hotel in the resort area of the southern province of Pattani. August 24, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Bangkok responds to the demands of the Islamists, reinforced by attacks and, with counter-terrorism operations and suppression of local unrest. More than 6,000 people have died in the 13 years of escalation of the conflict.

Uyghur conflict

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR, Chinese abbreviation Xinjiang) is located in northwestern China. It occupies a sixth of the territory of all of China, and the majority of its inhabitants are Uighurs - a Muslim people, whose representatives are far from always enthusiastic about the national policy of the country's communist leadership. In Beijing, Xinjiang is perceived as a region of "three hostile forces" - terrorism, religious extremism and separatism.

The Chinese authorities have reason to do so - the active terrorist group East Turkistan Islamic Movement, whose goal is to create an Islamic state of China, is responsible for riots and terrorist attacks in Xinjiang: over the past 10 years, more than 1,000 people have died in the region.

A military patrol walks past a building that was damaged by an explosion in Urumqi, the largest city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. On May 22, 2014, five suicide bombers carried out an attack that killed 31 people. Photo: Reuters

Now the conflict is characterized as sluggish, but Beijing has already been threatened with an escalation of the situation after the Chinese authorities imposed a ban on wearing beards, hijabs and performing marriage and mourning ceremonies according to religious customs instead of secular ones. In addition, Uyghurs were urged to sell alcohol and tobacco in shops and not to publicly celebrate religious holidays.

Armed conflict in the Philippines

For more than four decades, conflict has continued in the Philippines between Manila and armed groups of Muslim separatists in the south of the country, who traditionally advocate the creation of an independent Islamic state. The situation escalated after the positions of the Islamic State in the Middle East were significantly shaken: many Islamists rushed to Southeast Asia. Two large groups, Abu Sayyaf and Maute, swore allegiance to IS and captured the city of Marawi on the Philippine island of Mindanao in May. Government troops still cannot drive the militants out of the city. Also, radical Islamists organize armed attacks not only in the south, but also.

According to the latest data, from May to September of this year in the Philippines, a total of 45 civilians and 136 soldiers and policemen were killed as a result of terrorist actions.

North and South America

Mexico

In 2016, Mexico ranked second in terms of the number of deaths in the list of states where armed clashes continue, second only to Syria. The nuance is that officially there is no war on the territory of Mexico, but for more than ten years there has been a battle between the country's authorities and drug cartels. The latter are still fighting among themselves, and there is a reason for this - the income from the sale of drugs in the United States alone is up to 64 billion dollars a year. And another 30 billion dollars a year drug cartels receive from the sale of drugs to Europe.

Forensic expert examines the crime scene. Under the bridge in the city of Ciudad Juarez, the body of a woman who was murdered with extreme cruelty was found. A note was found on the body: “So it will be with informers and with those who steal from their own.” Photo: Reuters

The world community calls this confrontation in Mexico an armed conflict with a high degree of intensity, and justifiably: even in the most “peaceful” year of 2014, more than 14,000 people died, and since 2006, more than 106,000 people have become victims of the “drug war”.

"Northern Triangle"

Drugs come to Mexico from South America. All transit routes pass through the three countries of the "Northern Triangle" in Central America: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The Northern Triangle is one of the most violent regions in the world, where powerful transnational criminal organizations have flourished, many with links to Mexican drug traffickers; local organized crime groups; gangs like the 18th Street Gang (M-18) and pandillas street gangs. All these groups and clans are constantly waging war among themselves for the redistribution of spheres of influence.

Members of MS-13, captured as a result of a special operation. Photo: Reuters

The governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have declared war on both organized crime and street crime. This decision was strongly supported in the United States, where 8.5% of the population of the Northern Triangle immigrated in recent years due to high levels of violence and corruption.

The countries of the "Northern Triangle" are also recognized as participants in the armed conflict with a high degree of intensity.

Colombia

The confrontation between the Colombian authorities and the left-wing extremist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) lasted more than 50 years. Over the years, about 220 thousand people died, about 7 million lost their homes. In 2016, between the authorities of Colombia and FARC was signed. The rebels from the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN) refused to join the treaty, which, together with the problem of large-scale drug trafficking, leaves the military conflict in the country in the status of “medium intensity”.

Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa

AT Somalia For more than 20 years, lawlessness has reigned: neither the government, nor the UN peacekeepers, nor the military intervention of neighboring countries can stop the anarchy. The radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab is actively operating on the territory of Somalia, and coastal areas began to earn money by piracy.

Affected children in a Mogadishu hospital as a result of a terrorist attack carried out by radical Islamists in the capital of Somalia on August 4, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Radical Islamists terrorize and Nigeria. Boko Haram militants control approximately 20% of the territory in the north of the country. They are being fought by the Nigerian army, assisted by troops from neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

In addition to jihadists, there is another conflict zone in the country in the Niger Delta. For more than 20 years, Nigerian government forces and mercenaries from oil companies, on the one hand, and Ogoni, Igbo, and Ijo ethnic groups, on the other, have been trying to establish control over the oil-bearing regions for more than 20 years with varying success.

In another country, the youngest of the recognized states in the world - South Sudan, - the civil war began two years after independence, in 2013, and despite the presence of 12,000 UN peacekeepers. Formally, it goes between government troops and the rebels, but in fact - between representatives of the dominant Dinka people (President Salva Kiir belongs to it) and the Nuer tribe, from which Vice President Riek Machar comes.

Restless and in Sudan. In the Darfur region in the west of the country, an interethnic conflict has been ongoing since 2003, resulting in an armed confrontation between the central government, the informal pro-government Arab Janjaweed armed groups and local rebel groups. According to various estimates, from 200 to 400 thousand people died as a result of the Darfur conflict, 2.5 million people became refugees.

armed conflict in Mali between government forces, the Tuareg, various separatist groups and radical Islamists flared up in early 2012. The starting point of the events was a military coup, as a result of which the current head of state, Amadou Touré, was overthrown. To maintain order in the country there are UN peacekeepers and the French contingent, but, despite this, hostage-taking is constantly in Mali.

in the eastern provinces Democratic Republic of the Congo Despite all the efforts of the authorities and peacekeepers, the situation has remained tense for many years. Various Islamist and Christian groups, armed formations of local tribes and gangs from neighboring states operate on the territory of the country. All of them are attracted by the colossal reserves of rich minerals: gold, diamonds, copper, tin, tantalum, tungsten, more than half of the world's proven reserves of uranium. According to the UN Panel of Experts on the DRC, illegal gold mining "definitely remains the main source of funding for armed groups."

AT Central African Republic (CAR) in 2013, Muslim rebels overthrew the Christian president, after which sectarian strife began in the country. Since 2014, a UN peacekeeping mission has been in the country.