Researchers from Columbia University’s Earth Institute say that El Niño, the periodic climate cycle that boosts temperatures and cuts rainfall, doubles the risk of civil wars across 90 affected tropical countries, and may account for a fifth of worldwide conflicts during the past half-century. The paper, the first to link a natural global climate cycle […]
Far from the planet becoming more peaceful, the frequency of wars between states has increased steadily from 1870 by 2 percent a year on average. A new study by researchers at the University of Warwick and Humboldt University argues that the rise in conflicts is being fed by economic growth and the proliferation of new […]
Chinese researchers have found a startling correlation between peaks of warfare in China and cold phases. David Zhang, from the University of Hong Kong, writes in the journal Human Ecology that climate change, and the resulting shortage of ecological resources, could be a trigger for armed conflicts in the future. His research highlights how temperature […]
A new University of Georgia study has found that despite overwhelming military superiority, the world’s most powerful nations failed to achieve their objectives in 39 percent of their military operations since World War II. Rather than military superiority, study author Patricia L. Sullivan says the most important factor influencing whether a military operation is successful […]
