This is a list of interstate wars since 1945. Interstate warfare has been defined as military conflict between separate states over a territory,[1] including irregular military forces legitimized by the laws of war applicable to interstate wars due to the invasion or annexation being unlawful. This does not include civil wars and wars of independence , or smaller clashes with limited casualties (less than 100 combat deaths). The largest interstate war in history, World War II , involved most of the world's countries , after which the United Nations (UN) was established in 1945 to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts.[2] The post-WWII era has, in general, been characterized by the absence of direct, major wars between great powers , such as the United States and (until 1991) the Soviet Union .[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
1945–1989 [ edit ] Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum
Start Finish Name of conflict States in conflict Combat deaths Min estimate Max estimate November 1945 December 15, 1946 Iran crisis of 1946 Iran Azerbaijan People's Government Republic of Mahabad
2,000+ 22 October 1947 5 January 1949 Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 India Pakistan 2,604 7,500 14 May 1948 10 March 1949 1948 Arab–Israeli War Israel Egypt Iraq Transjordan Syria Lebanon Saudi Arabia Yemen
13,073 26,373 13 September 1948 18 September 1948 Operation Polo India Hyderabad 32,190 202,190 25 June 1950 27 July 1953[8] Korean War [9] UN Command South Korea United States United Kingdom Australia Belgium Canada France Philippines Colombia Ethiopia Greece Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand South Africa Thailand Turkey 2,568,927 4,096,927 6 October 1950 24 October 1950 Battle of Chamdo China Tibet 294 5,814 3 September 1954 1 May 1955 First Taiwan Strait Crisis China Republic of China
United States 914 1,054 1 November 1955 15 May 1975 Vietnam War North Vietnam FNL Khmer Rouge Khmer Issarak Pathet Lao China North Korea Soviet Union South Vietnam United States[a] South Korea[b] Thailand Australia [c] New Zealand [d] Laos Khmer Republic Philippines 1,326,494 3,447,494 29 October 1956 7 November 1956 Suez Crisis Israel [10] [11] United Kingdom France
Egypt [12] 2,848 4,198 1 November 1956 4 November 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Soviet Union Hungary 3,222 23 October 1957 30 June 1958 Ifni War Spain France
Morocco 1,197 23 August 1958 2 December 1958 Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Taiwan
United States China 1,054 17 April 1961 20 April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuba United States 2,298 19 July 1961 23 July 1961 Bizerte crisis France Tunisia 654 657 19 December 1961 15 August 1962 Operation Trikora Indonesia Netherlands 223 20 October 1962 21 November 1962 Sino-Indian War China India 2,105 6,197 20 January 1963 11 August 1966 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Malaysia Singapore United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Indonesia 874 25 September 1963 20 February 1964 Sand War Morocco Algeria 69 500 6 February 1964 6 April 1964 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War Ethiopia Somalia 1,000 2,000 5 August 1965 23 September 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 India Pakistan 6,800 13,459 5 October 1966 3 December 1969 Korean DMZ Conflict South Korea United States North Korea 739 5 June 1967 10 June 1967 Six-Day War Israel [13] Egypt Syria Jordan Arab Expeditionary Forces: 12,336 19,264 1 July 1967 7 August 1970 War of Attrition Israel Egypt Soviet Union Cuba Jordan Syria 6,442 14,290 11 September 1967 1 October 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes India China 120 441 20 August 1968 21 August 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Soviet Union Bulgaria East Germany Hungary Poland Czechoslovakia 254 14 July 1969 18 July 1969 Football War El Salvador Honduras 3,000 2 March 1969 11 September 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict China Soviet Union 132 860 3 December 1971 16 December 1971 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 India [14] [15] [16] Pakistan 11,500 12,843 6 October 1973 25 October 1973 Yom Kippur War Israel Egypt Syria Combat support : 10,521 21,300 20 July 1974 18 August 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Turkey Cyprus Greece 6,009 9,509 April 1974 March 1975 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict Iran Iraq 1,000+ 30 October 1975 6 September 1991 Western Sahara War Morocco Mauritania France
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Algeria
10,000 20,000 7 December 1975 17 July 1976 Indonesian invasion of East Timor Indonesia East Timor 51,000+
13 July 1977 23 March 1978 Ogaden War Ethiopia Cuba South Yemen Soviet Union Somalia 39,836 21 July 1977 24 July 1977 Egyptian–Libyan War Egypt Libya 500 29 January 1978 11 September 1987 Chadian–Libyan War Chad France Libya 8,500+ 9 October 1978 3 June 1979 Uganda–Tanzania War Tanzania Mozambique Uganda Libya 4,135 4,323 21 December 1978 26 September 1989 Cambodian–Vietnamese War Vietnam People's Republic of Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea Thailand 270,000 297,000 17 February 1979 16 March 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War Vietnam China 36,945 175,000 24 February 1979 19 March 1979 Yemenite War of 1979 North Yemen South Yemen 1,084 16 March 1979 1 November 1991 Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) Vietnam China 6,000 24 December 1979 15 February 1989 Soviet–Afghan War Soviet Union Afghanistan Afghan Mujahideen [21] Afghan Interim Government (from 1988) 600,000 2,000,000 22 September 1980 20 August 1988 Iran–Iraq War Iran [22] Iraq United States[e] 405,000 1,200,000 2 April 1982 14 June 1982 Falklands War United Kingdom Argentina 907 June 1982 August 1982 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War Somalia Ethiopia 18 April 1983 April 1983 Chadian–Nigerian War Nigeria Chad 100+ 25 October 1983 29 October 1983 Invasion of Grenada United States Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Dominica Jamaica Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Grenada Cuba 102 25 December 1985 30 December 1985 Agacher Strip War Mali Burkina Faso 142 20 February 1988 12 May 1994 First Nagorno-Karabakh War Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Armenia Azerbaijan 37,413 56,000 9 April 1989 18 July 1991 Mauritania–Senegal Border War Mauritania Senegal 200+ 20 December 1989 31 January 1990 United States invasion of Panama United States Panama 540 3,338
1990–present [ edit ] Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum
Start Finish Name of conflict States in conflict Combat deaths Min. estimate Max. estimate 2 August 1990 28 February 1991 Persian Gulf War Kuwait United States United Kingdom Saudi Arabia France Italy Canada Australia Egypt Syria Qatar Iraq 29,231 59,231 2 November 1990 21 July 1992 Transnistria War Moldova Transnistria Russia
316 637 5 January 1991 24 June 1992 South Ossetia war (1991–1992) Georgia South Ossetia Russia
1,000+ 27 June 1991 7 July 1991 Ten-Day War Slovenia Yugoslavia 76 20 September 1991 3 January 1992 Croatian War of Independence Croatia Yugoslavia 5,040 7,279 6 April 1992 19 May 1992 Bosnian War [23] Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslavia [f] Serbia and Montenegro [g] 14 August 1992 27 September 1993 War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) Abkhazia Russia
Georgia 25,000 30,000 19 September 1994 31 March 1995 Operation Uphold Democracy United States Haiti 302 26 January 1995 28 February 1995 Cenepa War Peru Ecuador 84 410 24 October 1996 16 May 1997 First Congo War AFDL
Rwanda
Uganda
Burundi
Angola
SPLA
Eritrea Zaire
Sudan
Chad
Ex-FAR /ALiR
Interahamwe
CNDD-FDD
UNITA
ADF
FLNC 235,000 250,000 28 February 1998 10 June 1999 Kosovo War Kosova NATO [h] Yugoslavia 16,056 16,879 3 May 1998 18 June 2000 Eritrean–Ethiopian War Ethiopia Eritrea 53,000 300,000 3 May 1999 26 July 1999 Kargil War India Pakistan 884 5,600 7 August 1999 30 April 2000 Second Chechen War Russia Ichkeria 20,000 5 June 2000 10 June 2000 African Six-Day War Part of the Second Congo War Rwanda Uganda 4,051+ 7 October 2001 17 December 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan Part of the Afghan conflict United States United Kingdom Canada Australia Afghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan 9,550 14,388 19 March 2003 1 May 2003 2003 invasion of Iraq United States United Kingdom Australia Poland Iraq 10,996 53,016 28 June 2006 Ongoing Gaza–Israel conflict Israel Gaza Strip 42,783 10 June 2008 13 June 2008 Djiboutian–Eritrean border conflict Eritrea Djibouti 144 10 June 2008 4 July 2012 Pakistani-U.S. skrmishes Part of the War in Afghanistan United States Afghanistan Pakistan 55 1 August 2008 12 August 2008 Russo-Georgian War Russia Georgia 730 737 19 March 2011 31 October 2011 2011 military intervention in Libya Part of the First Libyan Civil War NATO Qatar Sweden United Arab Emirates Libya 72 403+ 26 March 2012 26 September 2012 Heglig Crisis Sudan South Sudan 316 1,485 30 January 2013 Ongoing Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war Part of the Syrian Civil War Israel Iran Syria 645 671 20 February 2014 Ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War (outline) Ukraine Russia 198,813 22 September 2014 Ongoing American intervention in the Syrian civil war Part of the Syrian Civil War United States Syria Russia Iran Islamic State 192+ 1 April 2016 5 April 2016 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Azerbaijan Artsakh Armenia 137 2,060 24 August 2016 Ongoing Turkish occupation of northern Syria Part of the Syrian Civil War Turkey 5,702+ 10,705+ 27 February 2020 6 March 2020 Operation Spring Shield Part of the Syrian Civil War Turkey Syria Iran 238 446 27 September 2020 10 November 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War Azerbaijan Armenia 7,726 15 December 2020 1 December 2022 Al-Fashaga conflict Sudan Ethiopia Eritrea
97 108+ 27 January 2022 20 September 2022 2022 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan clashes Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan 146 263+
See also [ edit ] ^ After 8 March 1965. ^ From 11 September 1964 to 23 March 1973. ^ From June 1965 to 12 March 1972. ^ From July 1965 to 9 December 1971. ^ From 19 October 1987 to 18 April 1988. ^ Until 27 April 1992. ^ After 27 April 1992. ^ After 24 March 1999. ^ Until 30 September 2022. ^ Until 30 September 2022. References [ edit ] ^ Ray, James Lee (2002). "Does Interstate War Have A Future?" . Conflict Management and Peace Science . 19 (1): 53–80. doi :10.1177/073889420201900105 . ISSN 0738-8942 . JSTOR 26273613 . S2CID 220780771 . ^ "History of the UN | United Nations Seventieth Anniversary" . www.un.org . Retrieved 2022-03-09 . ^ Gaddis, John Lewis (1989). The Long Peace: Inquiries Into the History of the Cold War . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504335-9 . ^ Saperstein, Alvin M. (March 1991). "The "Long Peace"— Result of a Bipolar Competitive World?". The Journal of Conflict Resolution . 35 (1): 68–79. doi :10.1177/0022002791035001004 . S2CID 153738298 . ^ Duffield, John S. (2009). "Explaining the Long Peace in Europe: the contributions of regional security regimes". Review of International Studies . 20 (4): 369–388. doi :10.1017/S0260210500118170 . ISSN 0260-2105 . S2CID 145698353 . ^ Fettweis, Christopher J. (2017). "Unipolarity, Hegemony, and the New Peace". Security Studies . 26 (3): 423–451. doi :10.1080/09636412.2017.1306394 . ISSN 0963-6412 . S2CID 148993870 . ^ Human Security Research Group, Simon Fraser University (2013). "Human Security Report 2013: The Decline in Global Violence" (PDF) . Retrieved 11 November 2018 . ^ US State Department statement regarding "Korea: Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission" and the Armistice Agreement "which ended the Korean War." ^ "The Korean War (article) | 1950s America" . Khan Academy . Retrieved 2022-03-18 . ^ "Israel Routs Egypt" ^ "Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins" ^ "Nasser lost the war in military terms" ^ "Six-Day War" . Encyclopedia Britannica . ^ Lyon, Peter (2008). Conflict between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO. p. 166 . ISBN 978-1-57607-712-2 . India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia ^ Kemp, Geoffrey (2010). The East Moves West India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East . Brookings Institution Press. p. 52 . ISBN 978-0-8157-0388-4 . However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India ^ Byman, Daniel (2005). Deadly connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism . Cambridge University Press. p. 159 . ISBN 978-0-521-83973-0 . India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972 ^ Shazly, p. 278. ^ Perez, Louis A. (2014). Cuba Between Reform And Revolution (Paperback ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 978-0199301447 . Cuba also dispatched combat troops to Syria in 1973 during the Yom Kipur War ^ Gott, Cuba, A New History , p. 280. ^ Tobji, Mahjoub (2006). Les officiers de Sa Majesté: Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956–2006 . 107: Fayard. ISBN 978-2213630151 . {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: location (link ) ^ W. Michael Reisman, James Silk (1988). "WHICH LAW APPLIES TO THE AFGHAN CONFLICT?" (PDF) . American Journal of International Law . 82 : 485-486. ^ "Iran 'won' the war with Iraq but at a heavy price" . Atlantic Council . 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-02-27 . ^ "Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: Topical Digests of the Case Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia" . Human Rights Watch. February 2004. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2017 . [F]or the period material to this case (1992), the armed forces of the Republika Srpska were to be regarded as acting under the overall control of and on behalf of the FRY (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ). Hence, even after 19 May 1992 the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the Bosnian Serbs and the central authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be classified as an international armed conflict.
1990–2000 2001–2019 2020–present Related