Armed Conflict, 1989-98
| Author | Peter Wallensteen,Margareta Sollenberg |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343399036005006 |
| Date | 01 September 1999 |
| Published date | 01 September 1999 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Armed Conflict, 1989–98*
PETER WALLENSTEEN & MARGARETA SOLLENBERG
Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
journal of
peace
R
ESEARCH
© 1999 Journal of Peace Research,
vol 36, no. 5, 1999, pp. 593–606
Sage Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA
and New Delhi)
[0022-3433(199909)36:5; 593–606; 010141]
A total of 108 armed conflicts has been recorded for the years 1989–98. Of these, 36 were active in
1998. This marks an increase from 1997, after an overall decline in the number of conflicts per year
since 1992. The number of wars nearly doubled in 1998, after a marked decrease that had also started
in 1992. Most wars took place in Africa. Seven interstate armed conflicts were recorded for the whole
period, of which two were active in 1998.
The Year 1998
During the period 1989–98 there were 108
armed conflicts in 73 locations around the
world (Table I). Of this total, in 1998 there
were 36 conflicts active in 31 locations. This
represents an increase over the previous year,
when there were 34 armed conflicts in 27
locations.
Five new armed conflicts broke out in
1998: in Yugoslavia (Kosovo), Nepal,1
Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, and between Eritrea
and Ethiopia. Five conflicts recommenced:
in the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland),
Tajikistan, Angola, Ethiopia (Ogaden) and
Rwanda.
Seven conflicts listed in 1997 are no
longer active: India (Nagaland), where a
ceasefire from 1997 held throughout the
year; Angola (Cabinda) and Ethiopia
(Somali), where activity remained below the
level for inclusion; Comoros, where Anjouan
became a de facto state with no military
involvement by Comoros after the 1997
conflict; Congo-Brazzaville, where former
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso overthrew
President Pascal Lissouba in 1997; and the
two conflicts in Niger (Tuareg and
Toubou), where ceasefire agreements were
concluded in 1997 and 1998.
As in previous years, most of the conflicts
in 1998 were intrastate (Table II). Foreign
interventions were recorded in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (former
Zaire) with Rwandan and Ugandan inter-
ventions against the government, and in
Sierra Leone, where ECOMOG troops
intervened against the AFRC/RUF alliance
which had taken power in 1998.2Of the two
interstate conflicts in 1998, the conflict
* This article is part of a joint research programme on the
dynamics of conflict at the Department of Peace and
Conflict Research, Uppsala University, and at the
International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO),
funded by the Ford Foundation. Several of our colleagues
in Uppsala have contributed to the data collection, and
people at both Uppsala and PRIO have provided valuable
comments. Responsibility for the article, however, rests
entirely with the authors. The data can be downloaded
from: www.peace.uu.se.
1Nepal was listed as an unclear case in 1997, but revision
showed that it should have been listed as a minor armed
conflict. Corresponding changes have been made in tables
and appendices.
593
2ECOMOG Monitoring Group of ECOWAS
[Economic Organization of West African States]; AFRC
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council; RUF
Revolutionary United Front.
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