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SUMMARY

ARMED CONFLICTS REPORT 2014www.ploughshares.ca

WORLD MILITARY SPENDING

Project Ploughshares is the peace centre of The Canadian Council of Churches, with a mandate to advance policies and actions that prevent war and armed violence and build peace.

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Project Ploughshares, 140 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6 Canada T: 519-888-6541 E: plough@ploughshares.ca.

Project Ploughshares gratefully acknowledges the ongoing financial support of the many individuals, national churches and church agencies, the congregations, religious orders, and organizations across Canada that ensure the work of Project Ploughshares continues. We are particularly grateful to The Simons Foundation for its generous support.

In nine of the 28 armed conflicts in 2013, fatalities resulting directly from the armed violence exceeded 1,000. Syria was by far the bloodiest with conflict deaths estimated at upwards of 30,000. It was followed by Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan where fatality estimates in each case exceeded 5,000 during the year.

SEVEREST CONFLICTS IN 2013 There were 28 active armed conflicts in 25 countries in 2013, an increase from 26 conflicts in 23 countries in 2012. During 2013, conflicts crossed the threshold of 1,000 fatalities in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Egypt. The conflict in Chad was removed as an ongoing armed conflict, largely because there were fewer than 25 confirmed conflict-related deaths reported during both 2012 and 2013. Africa continued to host the greatest number of armed conflicts (12) and the Americas the fewest (1).

The civil war in Syria persisted as the most deadly armed conflict of the year in 2013. The United Nations reported that up to 40,000 people died in the first half of the year in fighting between government forces and opposition groups. (Reliable estimates for all of 2013 were unavailable.) During 2013, the UN and others reported that total deaths since the Syrian conflict began in 2011 surpassed 100,000. The security and humanitarian situation further deteriorated as opposition groups became increasingly fractured in 2013, largely as a consequence of tensions between Islamist groups and other rebel forces. A major chemical weapons attack in August killed more than 1,000 people and intensified international attention to the conflict. Although the United States threatened military action, it worked with Russia to achieve a diplomatic solution, resulting in a United Nations Security Council Resolution that required the complete destruction of all chemical weapons material in Syria by mid-2014.

International forces were deployed to both the Central African Republic and Mali in 2013 to stabilize deteriorating security situations arising from fighting between government forces and rebel groups in both states. In the Central African Republic, the government of President Bozizé was overturned in a coup in March and the leader of the Séléka (largely Muslim) rebel group assumed the presidency. An estimated 1,500 people died during the year as civilians were attacked by Séléka soldiers and the “anti-balaka” rebel group (Christian and animist) responded by attacking Muslims.

The Malian government, supported by France, fought against Tuareg rebels and Islamist opposition groups to regain rebel-held territory in 2013. At least 500 people, including government soldiers, civilians, and militants, were killed in violent clashes. French and Malian security forces pushed to regain territory with air strikes and attacks from ground troops. Rebel groups responded with suicide attacks, car bombs, land mines, and attacks on urban centres.

In Egypt, the “Arab Spring” citizens revolt, which led to the resignation of authoritarian President Mubarak and the 2012 election of President Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, took a further turn in 2013 when protests against Morsi set the stage for an Egyptian Army coup d’état. Over a thousand civilians died in the subsequent protests against Morsi’s removal and the arrest of many in his government.

Project Ploughshares has reported annually on armed conflict since 1987. Full descriptions of the 2013 armed conflicts are available in the Armed Conflicts Report on the Project Ploughshares website (www.ploughshares.ca).

PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES

COUNTRIES HOSTING ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2013

Civilian and military deaths during current phase of conflict(s)

1,000 – 10,000

10,000 – 100,000Over 100,000

Peacekeeping/Observer/Enforcement Missions in 2013

United Nations Missions

Non-UN MissionsCountries hosting multiple conflicts in 2013

For the purposes of the Armed Conflicts Report an armed conflict is defined as a political conflict in which armed combat involves the armed forces of at least one state (or one or more armed factions seeking to gain control of all or part of the state), and in which at least 1,000 people have been killed by the fighting during the course of the conflict. An armed conflict is added to the annual list of current armed conflicts in the year in which the death toll

reaches 1,000. An armed conflict is deemed to have ended if there has been a formal ceasefire or peace agreement and, following which, there are no longer combat deaths (or at least fewer than 25 per year); or, in the absence of a formal ceasefire, a conflict is deemed to have ended after two years of

dormancy (in which fewer than 25 combat deaths per year have occurred).

10 10 202011 10 14.351

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF ARMED CONFLICTS IN 2013

RegionNumber of countries in

region

Number of

region

Number of countries hosting

Per cent of countries in

region hosting Per cent of

AFRICA 51 12 12 24 43

ASIA 42 9 6 14 32EUROPE 42 1 1 2 4

THE AMERICAS 44 1 1 2 4

MIDDLE EAST 14 5 5 36 18

WORLD TOTALS 193 28 25 13 100

PEACEKEEPING/OBSERVER/ENFORCEMENT MISSIONS IN 2013

At the end of 2013, UN military and police deployments to peacekeeping missions totaled 98,200, an increase from the 96,934 total at the end of 2012. Non-UN deployments totaled 123,868, including 94,924 mostly NATO member troops deployed in Afghanistan.

MISSIONS IN COUNTRIES NOT HOSTING ARMED CONFLICT

CountryUN

DeploymentNon-UN

Deployment

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Côte d’Ivoire

Cyprus

Guinea-Bissau

Haiti

Kosovo

Lebanon

Liberia

Moldova

North/South Korea

Uganda

Western Sahara

Source: IISS, �e Military Balance 2014

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND ARMED CONFLICT

The Human Development Report 2013 ranks 186 countries as Very High, High, Medium, and Low on their Human Development Index (HDI). Of the 25 countries that reported active armed conflict in 2013, 44 per cent ranked Low on the Human Development Index; 28 per cent ranked Medium; and only one country ranked Very High (Israel).

Sources: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/14/hdr2013_en_complete.pdf

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Source: SIPRI

The 10 Largest Exporters of Major Weapons and their Clients, 2009–2013

Share of International Arms Export (%)

Main Clients (share of exporter’s total exports), 2009–2013

Exporter 2009–2013 2004–2008 1st 2nd 3rd

USA 29 30 Australia (10%) South Korea (10%) UAE (9%)Russia 27 24 India (38%) China (12%) Algeria (11%)

Germany 7 10 USA (10%) Greece (8%) Israel (8%)China 6 2 Pakistan (47%) Bangladesh (13%) Myanmar (12%)France 5 9 China (13%) Morocco (11%) Singapore (10%)

UK 4 4 Saudi Arabia (42%) USA (18%) India (11%)Spain 3 2 Norway (21%) Australia (12%) Venezuela (8%)

Ukraine 3 2 China (21%) Pakistan (8%) Russia (7%)Italy 3 2 India (10%) UAE (9%) USA (8%)Israel 2 2 India (33%) Turkey (13%) Columbia (9%)

Share of International Arms Exports (%)

Main Clients (share of exporter’s total exports), 2009–2013

Exporter 2009–2013 2004–2008 1st 2nd 3rd

USA 29 30 Australia (10%) South Korea (10%) UAE (9%)Russia 27 24 India (38%) China (12%) Algeria (11%)

Germany 7 10 USA (10%) Greece (8%) Israel (8%)China 6 2 Pakistan (47%) Bangladesh (13%) Myanmar (12%)France 5 9 China (13%) Morocco (11%) Singapore (10%)

UK 4 4 Saudi Arabia (42%) USA (18%) India (11%)Spain 3 2 Norway (21%) Australia (12%) Venezuela (8%)

Ukraine 3 2 China (21%) Pakistan (8%) Russia (7%)Italy 3 2 India (10%) UAE (9%) USA (8%)Israel 2 2 India (33%) Turkey (13%) Colombia (9%)

Percentage of Countries by HDI Ranking Hosting Armed Conflict

Undetermined 8% Very high 4%

Low 44%

Medium 28%

High 16%

Source: IISS, The Military Balance 2014. All figures in U.S. dollars.

U.K. $57 billion

France $52.4 billion

China $112.2 billion

Rest of NATO $120.2 billion

Russia $68.2 billion

Germany$44.2 billion

Saudi Arabia$59.6 billion

Japan$51 billion

U.S.A.$600.4 billion

Rest of the World$392.4 billion

Global Total 2013: U.S. $1,557.6 billionThe United States again led the world in military spending by a wide margin, contributing 39 per cent of the world total. Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accounted for 56 per cent of global military spending.

Troop Contributions to UN Missions

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Total number of con�icts

Total number of countries in con�ict

36

40

48464442

38

20

30

50

3432

28262422

Middle East1,915 2.3%Europe

5,130 6.2% North America42 0.05%

Central and South America6,326 7.6%

Asia and Pacific32,736 39.3%

Africa37,130 44.6%

Source: IISS, The Military Balance 2014