Wars of 2022

This is an ongoing list of wars fought in 2022. For clarity, I will use the definition from the Upsalla Conflict Data Programme, a leading authority on wars and conflicts.

A war must:

1. be an armed conflict between states and armed groups involving military and paramilitary units.
2. have over 1,000+ battle-related casualties in a given calendar year.

The broader definition of ‘armed conflicts’ includes insurgencies and smaller-scale clashes. All wars are armed conflicts, but not all armed conflicts are wars.

This list does not include:

• insurgencies spread across multiple countries whose casualties exceed 1,000.
• wars whose casualties have not yet exceeded 1,000 in 2022. I will update, as these occur.

For a full list of ongoing wars, see Wikipedia or Worldpopulation Review.

Today, not all wars are as clear-cut as state conflicts were in the past, where one country fought another. Most are civil wars between governments and arrays of competing rebel groups. As most deaths go unreported, I have taken the highest average estimates. The casualties below are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

Burmese Civil War (Myanmar Conflict)

• Since 1948. Civil war involving Burmese government and rebel groups. 16,000 + casualties

War in Afghanistan

• Since 1978. Civil war involving Taliban government, Islamic State and other rebel groups. 3,000+ casualties.

Colombian Conflict

• Since 1964. Insurgency involving Colombian government, rebel groups and drug cartels. 2,000+ casualties.

Somali Civil War

• Since 1991. Civil war involving Somali government (with US, UK, Turkish and Italian support), Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. 5,000+ casualties.

Allied Democratic Forces insurgency.

• Since 1991. Insurgency involving the Ugandan and Congolese governments and the ‘Allied Democratic Forces’, a Ugandan rebel group. 3,000+ casualties.

War in Darfur

• Since 2003. Civil war involving Sudanese government (with Belarussian and Libyan support) and rebel groups (with South Sudanese support). 1000+ dead.

Mexican Drug War

• Since 2006. Drug war involving Mexican government and drug cartels. 6,000+ casualties.

Syrian Civil War

• Since 2011. Civil war involving Syrian government (with Russian and Iranian support) and rebel groups. 4,000 + casualties.

Nigerian bandit conflict

• Since 2011. Civil war involving Nigerian government, bandit gangs and rebel groups. 2,000+ casualties.

Mali War

• Since 2012. Civil war involving Malinese government, rebel groups and Al-Qaeda. 4,000+ casualties.

Yemeni Civil War

• Since 2014. Civil war between Yemeni government (with Saudi, US and UAE support) and Houthi Rebels (with Iranian support). 6,000 + casualties.

Civil wars in Ethiopia

• Since 2018, including Tigray War. Civil war between Ethiopian government (with Eritrean support) and Tigray rebels, Sudan and Al-Qaeda. 100,000 + casualties.

Russo-Ukrainean War

• Since 2022. Inter-state war between Russia and Ukraine. 156,000 + casualties.

Sources: Uppsala Conflict Data Programme, Wikipedia (lists sources for casualty counts), World Population Review

Books I Read in 2020

You would think, 2020 being what it was, this list would be larger. Apparently not.  Much of my reading was spent on work-related books not listed, and the 945 page, but yet unfinished ‘Don Quixote.’ As a result, my list is somewhat shameful in scope. My aim is to read 10 in 2021.

February

• The Epic of Gilgamesh (c.2200 BC). The world’s oldest recorded story. Listened to as an audiobook. 5/5.

March

• Conn Iggulden – The Falcon of Sparta (2018). A fictionalised account of Xenophon’s Anabasis. 4/5

June

• John Man – Amazons: The Warrior Women of the Ancient World (2018). An accessible survey warrior women in mythology and historical societies from Scythia to Dahomey. 4/5

July

• Herodotus – The Histories (430 BC). I didn’t ‘finish’ this book so to speak but read large chunks as a reference. Covers the Greco-Persian Wars in detail and explores of the known world of the 5^th century BC. 5/5.
  
  See Also:

• Books I Read in 2018
• Books I Read in 2019

Top Films of 2019

Here are my favourite  films of 2019 ranked from ten to one. Subject to my opinion and what I saw, of course.

Honourable mentions: Rocketman, Yesterday, Toy Story 4, Knives Out, Blinded by the Light, Little Women,  Avengers: Endgame (highest-grossing to date!)

10. The King

• The latest film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Immaculate set design and costumes and gritty fight scenes. Historically inaccurate at times and, though he gave a good performance I found (unpopular opinion) pretty-boy Timothee Chalamet miscast as the martial king Henry.

9. Marriage Story

• About a rich white liberal divorce with all the legal nastiness. Sad and compelling. Stars Scarlett Johanson and Adam Driver.

8. Dolemite is my Name

• Eddie Murphy stars as ambitious but down and out comedian Rudy Ray Moore in 1970s Los Angeles. With zero experience he directs and finances a homemade kung-fu themed Blaxploitation film. Murphy’s best performance in years.

7. Jojo Rabbit

• The latest from director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnorok). A shy boy and proud Hitler Youth finds out his mother is harbouring a Jew. Waititi is hilarious as a camp Hitler, his imaginary best friend. Quite moving toward the end.

6. El Camino

• A sequel movie to the tv show Breaking Bad (2008-2013). Rivetting conclusion to Jesse Pinkman’s story.

5. 1917

• Two British soldiers travel through no man’s land to halt 1500 men from advancing to their deaths. Thrilling and harrowing: brings the horrors of trench warfare to life.

4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

• A colourful and violent ode to 1960s Los Angeles.

3. Joker

• A disturbed and impoverished clown turns violent. More psychological thriller than DC flick. Dark but engaging. We live in a society.

2. The Irishman

• Mob epic from Martin Scorcese. Suspenseful and thematic.

1. Parasite

• Well crafted, topical and deeply unsettling. A Korean language film and only non-English one to make the list.

What were your favourites? What should/will win Best Picture at the Oscars? What were the best foreign-language films?   Let me know in the comments below!

The Ten Deadliest Civil Wars

Wikipedia does not have a list of civil wars by death toll so I made my own. I filtered the article ‘List of wars by death toll’ to include only civil wars, rebellions and internal conflicts then ranked them by the number of victims.

Casualties of war are always estimates, so I used the geometric mean wherever possible and rounded it to the nearest one hundred thousand.

A civil war is a conflict between factions in the same country. I counted rebellions against foreign governments, like the Dungan Revolt, Bangladesh Liberation War and Indian Rebellion as civil wars because Han Chinese, East Pakistanis and Indians fought on both sides respectively.

1. Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) – 45,000,000 casualties

• The Taiping Heavenly Army, led by a man claiming to be Jesus Christ’s brother, rebels against China’s Qing Dynasty. Qing victory.

2. An Lu Shan Rebellion (755-73) – 21,700,000

• An Lu Shan, a powerful general of Central Asian heritage, establishes a rival empire against China’s Tang Dynasty. Tang victory.

3. Dungan Revolt (1862-1877) – 9,800,000

• Chinese Muslims rebel against the ruling Qing Dynasty. Qing victory.

4. Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) – 9,700,000

• Warlords, Nationalists and Communists fight for control of China. Communist victory.

5. Russian Civil War (1917-1922) – 6,700,000

• The Red (Communist) and White (anti-Communist) armies fight for control of Russia. Communist victory.

6. Yellow Turban Rebellion (184-205) – 4,600,000

• Taoist secret societies lead a peasant revolt against China’s Han Dynasty. Han victory.

7. Second Congo War (1998-2003) – 3,700,000

• A greater African proxy conflict. Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe support the Congolese government against Ugandan, Rwandan and Burundian backed rebels. Stalemate.

8. Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) – 3,000,000

• East Pakistan (Bangladesh), secedes from Pakistan with Indian support. East Pakistani victory.

French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) – 2,900,000

• French Protestants rebel against the Catholic monarchy. Catholic victory.

10. Indian Rebellion of 1857 (1857-1858) – 2,900,000

• India rebels against British colonial rule. British victory.

Not only did half these wars happen in China, but the entire first four! It is not surprising, given China is, and always has been, the most populated country in the world. The Taiping Rebellion cost more lives than the next three conflicts combined. According to Wikipedia more were killed in this conflict than the Second World War! (35 million).

Most are wars the average Westerner have never heard of. The most famous ones, like the American, Spanish and Syrian civil wars, number under one million casualties.

Only two – the Second Congo War and Bangladesh Liberation War- involved significant interference from outside powers.

Note (31/07/18) – If you would like a post on any of the conflicts listed, please suggest it in the comments below!

See Also:

• Wikipedia – List of wars by death toll
• The Laotian Civil War
• The World’s Strongest Militant Groups

Empire

An Empire is when one sovereign state rules over others: different countries and peoples controlled by one government.  This contrasts with the modern nation state, where a culture and language have a country of their own.  Rome, for example, was an empire, modern Italy is a nation state.

Empires are as old as time and their cycle of creation and destruction drives history. Empires may be ruled by a single monarch such a king or emperor, or a single government. The Athenian Empire consisted of multiple city states governed by the citizens of Athens. It identified as a simple alliance, but historians consider it an empire.

I define empires by one of three categories:

1. Direct: One sovereign state governs other territories over contiguous land. Upheld by force and rule of law. (Romans, Mongols, Ottomans)
2. Colonial: A country rules overseas territories, sometimes indirectly, for the purpose of trade and resource extraction. Upheld by force, rule of law and naval power. (British, French, Portuguese)
3. De Facto: The Empire does not recognise itself as such but exerts influence through indirect means. Upheld by treaties, economic contracts and military bases. (Athens, Venice, China in Southeast Asia, American Empire).

Starting with Sargon of Akkad in ancient times, a series of empires dominated the Near East and China. By the 300s, Alexander the Great had conquered an Empire spreading from Greece to India. Two centuries later, the Romans ruled the Mediterranean.

From the 1500s to the 1900s European colonial empires dominated the world. The British Empire was the largest. Most conflicts today are a legacy of colonialism.

Today the largest empires are American and Chinese, though neither of them identify as such.

The longest lasting Empire belonged to the Romans, who ruled from 275 BC to 1453 AD, over 1600 years when counting the earlier Republican period and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Although not the largest, the Roman Empire was easily the most influential, at least in Europe.

The largest direct empire, and second largest of all time, was the Mongol Empire (1206-1368). It was founded not by an organised state, as was the case in the other empires listed, but by nomadic tribes from Inner Asia.

The largest of all time was the British Empire (1533-1997), which at its peak ruled a quarter of the world’s people and land.

According to Wikipedia, these are the largest empires of all time. A more accurate way to measure an Empire’s influence would be their population, however this is difficult as most figures would be estimates at best. Being difficult to determine, this list does not include de facto empires like the Warsaw Pact.

Largest ancient empires by landmass:

1. Han Dynasty (East Asian), 4.36% of the earth’s landmass in 100 AD
2. Achaemenid Empire (Middle Eastern), 3.69% in 500 BC
3. Macedonian Empire (European), 3.49% in 323 BC
4. Roman Empire (European), 3.36 %, 117 AD
5. Maurya Empire (South Asian), 3.36% 250 BC

Largest medieval empires by landmass:

1. Mongol Empire (Central Asian), 16% in 1309
2. Muslim Caliphate (Middle Eastern), 7.45% in 750
3. Ming Dynasty (East Asian), 4.36% in 1450
4. Gorturk Khaganate (Central Asian), 4.03% in 557
5. Tang Dynasty (East Asian), 3.63% in 1715

Largest modern empires by landmass:

1. British Empire (European), 23.84% in 1920
2. Russian Empire (European), 15.3% in 1885
3. Qing Dynasty (East Asian), 9.87% in 1790
4. Spanish Empire (European), 9.20% in 1810
5. Second French Empire (European), 7.72% in 1920

When they are forged empires cause war, misery, death and destruction and require violent and authoritarian power structures to uphold their rule. However empires are also unifying forces; through them common languages, religions and legal systems have spread across the world.

See Also:

• Why Did Europe Take Over the World?