IISS launches Armed Conflict Survey 2022 with contribution by HCSS analyst Laura Birkman

The IISS launched its Armed Conflict Survey 2022 at the 18^th IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain this month.

Published annually by the IISS, the Armed Conflict Survey sheds light on conflict drivers at the domestic, regional and global levels, while assessing current developments and trends in the conflict landscape, including potential hotspots and political risks.

A must-read for policymakers, international organisations and businesses operating in or near countries affected by war, The Armed Conflict Survey 2022 provides an in-depth analysis of the global conflict landscape, covering drivers, developments and trends in 33 active conflicts in the Americas, Europe and Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

As the most consequential inter-state war since 1945, the war in Ukraine features highly in this year’s Armed Conflict Survey, while it also has key implications for other armed conflicts globally. The Survey emphasises the rising trend of external interventions in civil wars from Africa to the Middle East, as geopolitical competition is currently a key determinant of conflicts around the world. 

Climate and Security

This edition includes a special feature on climate security amid the increasingly urgent need to understand the climate change, climate vulnerability and conflict nexus amid accelerating global warming. The feature provides specific insight on the interlinkages between climate vulnerability and conflict as well as on possible new geopolitical tensions and flashpoints linked to global climate mitigation strategies and clean energy transition.

Laura Birkman, Senior Strategic Analyst and Head of the Climate and Security Program at HCSS, contributed an essay entitled “Transition in Turbulence: Geostrategic Implications of Climate Change and the Energy Transition.”

Launch Event

The launch event in Manama featured a presentation and moderated discussion of the publication’s main findings on regional and global conflict trends, with a particular focus on climate security, Africa, Middle East, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Purchase Link

The book is available with Routledge here.