ARMED CONFLICT AND REGIONAL CONFLICT COMPLEXES, 1989-97

A total of 103 armed conflicts has been recorded for the years 1989-97 . Of these, 33 were active in 1997. Six interstate armed conflicts wer e recorded for the period, of which one was active in 1997. The period exhibits a decline in total number of conflicts per year; a decline i s also found in all regions with the exception of Africa. All new conf licts in 1996 and 1997 took place in Africa. More than half of the con flicts was linked to conflicts in neighbouring stares. Regional confli ct complexes were found in all regions, bur were particularly signific ant in Europe and in Africa, where they also reached high levels of in tensity.