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	Conflicts between states at the highest level since World War II by institutes for peace and conflict research   June 2026   Peace Report warns of a world of warlords - German institutes for peace and conflict research   In their 2026 Peace Report, four leading German institutes for peace and conflict research analyse the collapse of the international order:   States are flouting international law and are increasingly resorting to violence to assert their interests.   Pillars of international peacekeeping, such as the United Nations and development cooperation, are in a fundamental crisis.   At the same time, new technologies are transforming warfare and arms control.   In their annual Peace Report, the peace and conflict researchers conclude that military force has established itself as a regular instrument of international politics:   They observe that governments act like state warlords, disregarding international rules and using force to assert political, economic and territorial interests.   The dynamics and methods of these new warlords are particularly evident in the interventions of the United States, Russia and Israel, as well as in the regional power projections of Pakistan, Turkey, Ethiopia and the Gulf monarchies.   To contain the current dynamics of violence, they call on Germany to consistently adhere to international law and use its role in Europe to strengthen multilateral institutions and push for new alliances in support of the rules-based international order.   Conflicts at record level:   The period between 2021 and 2024 marks the most violent phase since the end of the Cold War, according to the 2026 Peace Report: In that time, 61 armed conflicts involving at least one state actor were recorded in 36 countries. At the same time, the number of displaced people worldwide rose to over 120 million in April 2025.   The 2026 Peace Report concludes that states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are playing out their rivalries in crisis regions, often acting simultaneously as party to the conflict and as mediator. This blurring of the lines between intervention and mediation hinders durable peace settlements and perpetuates existing conflicts.   The United Nations at a crossroads   The United Nations (UN) is in the midst of a deep structural crisis: Rivalries between major powers are blocking key decision-making processes, particularly in the Security Council.   At the same time, funding cuts and competing political frameworks are undermining the UN’s authority. Nevertheless, there is no viable alternative to the organisation. They advocate for the German government to work with middle powers and smaller states to realise stable funding and reforms.   Development cooperation as the key to sustainable peace   Development cooperation and, in particular, humanitarian aid are under massive pressure due to drastic cuts. Meanwhile, the scope of development cooperation is expanding as conflicts increase and climate change intensifies.   Cuts to international aid contribute to instability in fragile states and hinder the effective prevention of violent conflicts, warns the 2026 Peace Report.   The researchers recommend that Germany advocate at European and international levels for better coordination and effectiveness of development cooperation programmes.   Shaping sustainable transitions to peace   The 2026 Peace Report emphasises that ceasefires alone do not secure peace. Sustainable solutions require credible security guarantees, arrangements consistent with international law, a controlled approach to sanctions and the establishment of stable state structures. This is demonstrated by the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Syria.   For a stable peace, measures for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, as well as reconstruction, must be built into negotiations from the outset.   The German government must work with like-minded states to preserve and strengthen the United Nations’ (UN) capacity to act in the fields of prevention, mediation, and peace, and to enhance the effectiveness of arms control institutions.   Germany must provide strong political and financial support to the International Criminal Court and United Nations humanitarian coordination mechanisms.   New technologies exacerbate arms race dynamics   Technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber capabilities and biotechnology are driving global arms race dynamics and elude established forms of control. AI, in particular, accelerates military processes and intensifies cyberattacks and disinformation.   However, new technologies also offer opportunities for improved arms control. Internationally coordinated regulations are therefore necessary to strengthen international security.   Domestic peace in Germany under pressure   The 2026 Peace Report examines the political climate in Germany and finds that anti-Muslim racism is structurally entrenched and reinforced by security policy discourses. Antisemitism is widespread in German society and must be addressed without being solely attributed to Muslim communities, according to the 2026 Peace Report.   Democratic parties should counter polarising and racist discourse in areas such as migration and asylum policy. Otherwise, they will be advancing the agenda of authoritarian and far-right parties.   Containing the dynamics of violence   Without decisive countermeasures, it will no longer be possible to prevent the continued erosion of the multilateral order and its regulatory frameworks. The behavior of the new warlords has already given us a glimpse of what will come next: the normalization of military force as a routine political instrument and structural advantages for those actors who are willing and able to use it. Those who lack access to such means—or who choose not to employ them—risk permanently losing their security and autonomy.   This trajectory is not inevitable. But preventing it requires decisive action now. We must begin by clearly identifying and publicly condemning blatant violations of rules, regardless of whether these are committed by allies or adversaries. Only then can a rules-based order be upheld.   If breaches of international law are tolerated this undermines the credibility on which States foreign policy rests. Such inconsistency may, whether intentionally or not, contribute to the continued erosion of the international order.   That said, condemnation does not necessarily lead to compliance with the rules. This requires institutions and mechanisms of conflict regulation that are both recognized and utilized by the majority of states. The United Nations is one such institution.   While the UN Security Council will no longer be a viable force for peace in the foreseeable future, the UN General Assembly could very well be, provided that those member states committed to upholding the international order are willing to use their resources to strengthen it. This includes putting a stop to cuts to development cooperation.   At the same time, development cooperation must also be understood in strategic terms; its added value in this regard lies in strengthening trust in partnerships and the international order. An equally important task, especially in this era of escalating arms races, is to rebuild and sustain the foundations needed for a robust arms control regime. This requires modernizing arms control systems and making arms control mechanisms more flexible and adaptable.   * The Peace Report is an annual publication by the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, the Institute for Development and Peace at the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Leibniz Institute for Peace Research.   http://www.ifsh.de/en/news-detail/the-2026-peace-report-warns-of-a-world-ruled-by-warlords http://www.friedensgutachten.de/en http://www.dw.com/en/peace-report-are-modern-warlords-in-power/a-77478186   June 2026   Conflicts between states at the highest level since World War II. (PRIO)   The report, Conflict Trends: A Global Overview, 1946–2025, documents eight interstate conflicts in 2025 – twice as many as the previous year and the highest number recorded since 1946.   “The return of interstate conflict at this scale is deeply worrying,” warned Siri Aas Rustad, Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and lead author of the report.   “For decades, civil wars dominated global conflict. Now we are witnessing a dangerous resurgence of direct confrontations between states, driven by geopolitical rivalry, border disputes and regional escalation, particularly in the Middle East.”   The conflicts include Russia’s war against Ukraine, renewed violence between India and Pakistan, escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, and multiple interstate confrontations linked to the expanding regional conflict involving Israel, Iran, Yemen and the United States.   The report is based on data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, and provides a global overview of state-based conflicts, non-state conflicts and one-sided violence.   2025 among the deadliest years since the Cold War   Beyond the rise in interstate conflict, the report finds that a staggering 245,000 people were killed in battle-related violence in 2025, making it the third deadliest year since 1989. The number of battle deaths increased from 188,000 in 2024.   The sharp increase was driven primarily by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war in Gaza and escalating violence in Sudan, including the siege and massacre of El-Fasher City.   In total, 65 state-based conflicts were recorded across 35 countries in 2025 – also the highest number since records began in 1946.   According to the report, the world has now experienced more than a decade of persistently high levels of violence. Every year since 2013 has been more violent than nearly every post-Cold War year that came before it.   The report also highlights a growing concentration of violence in a smaller number of countries. While 65 conflicts were recorded globally, they were concentrated in just 35 countries, with many experiencing several overlapping wars and insurgencies simultaneously.   Myanmar and Israel each experienced five separate conflicts in 2025, while Afghanistan, Cameroon, Mali, Nigeria and Pakistan all experienced multiple conflicts.   This increasing complexity creates major challenges for peacebuilding, diplomacy and aid operations.   “Conflicts today are increasingly interconnected,” said Rustad. “They involve more actors, overlapping fronts and greater regional spillover. That makes them far harder to resolve and significantly increases the risks of wider regional wars.”   The growing complexity of conflict is creating mounting challenges for diplomacy, peacebuilding and humanitarian operations.   Sudan records highest level of civilian killings since Rwanda genocide   The report documents a dramatic rise in one-sided violence against civilians. Over 76,000 people were killed in one-sided violence in 2025 – the highest number recorded since the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Most of the killings occurred in Sudan, particularly during the massacre of El-Fasher City in North Darfur in October 2025, when tens of thousands of civilians were killed.   Africa and the Middle East remain epicentres of conflict   Africa remained the region with the highest number of both state-based and non-state conflicts in 2025, while the Middle East recorded its highest number of state-based conflicts ever. Asia also reached its highest level of state-based conflict since the mid-1990s.   According to the report, these trends suggest that the rise in global violence is not confined to one region, but reflects a broader deterioration in international security. “The data points to a world moving in the wrong direction: more wars, more internationalized conflicts and far higher human costs,” said Rustad.   http://www.prio.org/news/3719 http://www.prio.org/events/9296   June 2026   Explosive Weapons Drive Persistent Civilian Harm Across Global Conflicts   Civilians around the world continued to bear the devastating consequences of explosive weapons use in 2025 amid a broader pattern of sustained harm, a new report by the Explosive Weapons Monitor has revealed.   The Explosive Weapons Monitor 2025 paints a concerning picture, where civilian suffering from the use of explosive weapons has become a routine feature of warfare rather than an exception.   For the third consecutive year, communities in many conflict-affected countries endured daily bombing and shelling of towns and cities, while new conflicts and emerging patterns of explosive weapons use further expanded the scope of harm.   “The devastating impact of explosive weapons on civilians is both foreseeable and preventable. Yet across numerous conflicts, their continued use has entrenched a pattern of civilian harm that is increasingly treated as routine rather than exceptional,” said Katherine Young, Research and Monitoring Manager of the Explosive Weapons Monitor.   “When explosive weapons are used in populated areas, civilians suffer. What is particularly alarming is that this harm has become persistent across conflicts worldwide, risking the normalisation of civilian suffering on a massive scale.”   More than 22,600 civilians were killed by explosive weapons in 2025 (based on officially verified casualty figures, the exact number is thought to be considerably higher. Tens of thousands more were injured).   Civilian deaths remained alarmingly high, with more than half of all recorded civilian deaths attributed to Israeli armed forces and rising fatalities linked to other state and non-state actors across multiple conflicts.   Civilian infrastructure and essential services also came under growing threat. The report found that the use of explosive weapons in attacks affecting humanitarian aid increased by 52 percent in 2025, placing aid workers and life-saving assistance at greater risk and further limiting access to populations in need.   “We have observed in multiple conflicts that communities have been driven into dependence on humanitarian aid after explosive weapons devastated local food systems through the destruction of agricultural land, water infrastructure, and markets,” said Christina Wille, Director of Insecurity Insight.   “When humanitarian workers responding to these growing needs are attacked and killed, life-saving assistance is disrupted at the very moment people need it most, deepening human suffering and leaving already vulnerable communities at even greater risk.”   The report also recorded a dramatic increase in attacks on education, where explosive weapons damaged or destroyed educational facilities, or killed students and teachers, 64 percent more frequently in 2025 compared with the previous year.   Beyond the immediate death and destruction, the report highlights the long-term humanitarian consequences of attacks on essential services.   In Gaza, a surge in attacks on infrastructure essential to humanitarian relief efforts and food production in 2025 severely undermined Palestinians’ ability to locally produce or access food, while increasing dependence on humanitarian assistance.   Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, more than 3,800 schools have been impacted by explosive weapons, severely disrupting children's access to education and forcing many schools to close or operate under emergency measures.   Attacks on water and related energy infrastructure in Lebanon severely disrupted access to safe water in at least 36 incidents, damaging critical supply systems and leaving many communities dependent on costly alternative sources.   The report findings come at a time of growing concerns over violations of international humanitarian law and increasing pressure on norms designed to protect civilians in armed conflict.   The report warns that the normalisation of such severe civilian harm risks weakening the international commitments that seek to prevent suffering and protect civilians.   The report therefore calls for renewed efforts to bring the 2022 Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences of the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas into effect. Doing so not only includes placing limits on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas but also taking action to reinforce and defend the Political Declaration’s norms and principles.   “States must refuse to normalise the devastating toll of explosive weapons on civilians. By signing the Political Declaration, states are sending a clear message that harm to civilians, and destruction of the infrastructure they need to survive, will not be tolerated,” said Alma Taslidzan, Disarmament and Protection of Civilians Advocacy Manager at Humanity & Inclusion. “The challenge then is to translate the Declaration’s commitments into concrete action that reduces harm."   This international agreement to protect civilians from the devastating effects of explosive weapons in urban areas has been endorsed by 91 countries so far.   http://explosiveweaponsmonitor.org/reports/9/explosive-weapons-monitor-2025/ http://www.hi-us.org/en/explosive-weapons-killed-more-than-22-600-civilians-in-2025-new-report-finds http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/children-and-blast-injuries-the-devastating-impact-of-explosive-weapons-on-children-2020-2025 http://www.inew.org/resources/ http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-iasc-protecting-civilians-armed-conflict-responsibility-member-states-and-un http://www.unocha.org/news/over-1000-aid-workers-killed-often-hands-member-states-un-relief-chief-demands-action http://www.unocha.org/news/ocha-tells-security-council-protecting-civilians-cannot-be-outsourced-postponed-or-diluted http://humanitarianaction.info/document/mid-year-review-global-humanitarian-overview-delivering-people-crisis-against-odds/article/trends-crises-and-needs-civilians-line-fire http://civiliansinconflict.org/press-releases/joint-civil-society-statement-ahead-of-the-2026-open-debate-on-the-protection-of-civilians-in-armed-conflict/   http://www.hrw.org/news/2026/05/29/global-failure-to-protect-right-to-health-in-conflict http://insecurityinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2025-SHCC-Annual-Report.pdf http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/icrc-ifrc-world-red-cross-red-crescent-day-call-uphold-protections-civilians-medical-personnel-humanitarian-workers-communities-depend-on http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/2026-ECOSOC-HAS-Panel-2-remarks http://globalprotectioncluster.org/publications/2474/communication-materials/advocacy-note/poc-advocacy-note-civilian-protection-2026 http://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/remarks_un_special_adviser_r2p_convening_7_8_may_2026.pdf http://www.hrw.org/news/2026/06/15/global-surge-in-attacks-on-education-continues-rising-more-than-40-percent http://eua2026.protectingeducation.org/ http://www.rescue.org/report/watchlist-midyear-update-2026 http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/   * Protection of civilians in armed conflict - Report of the Secretary-General: http://docs.un.org/en/S/2026/390 http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/en/news/year-unthinkable-suffering-record-number-children-conflict-victims-grave-violations-2025 http://watchlist.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-annual-report-press-release_final.pdf http://www.unicef.org/take-action/campaigns/children-under-attack http://www.savethechildren.net/news/every-war-war-against-children-it-must-never-be-accepted-inevitability-statement-save-children http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/unhrc-statement-children-rights-armed-conflict http://alliancecpha.org/en
	A Practical Guide to Fighting Corruption with a Human Rights-Based Approach by FIDH, Transparency International   June 2026   Against a backdrop of rising corruption worldwide, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Transparency International and Transparency International France have joined forces to produce a guide for civil society organisations involved in the human rights and anti-corruption movements.   Corruption is not a victimless crime. When it allows funds intended for public services to be misappropriated, it deprives people of their rights—including the right to healthcare, justice, education and a healthy environment. Moreover, when it leads to the capture of public institutions, it undermines the rule of law, restricts access to justice and enables impunity.   The guide "Breaking the Silos: A Practical Guide to Fighting Corruption with a Human Rights-Based Approach" offers practical tools to better document the impacts of corruption, pursue redress and strengthen the accountability of those responsible, whether they be individuals, companies or states.   It emphasises the importance of placing victims at the centre of efforts and of promoting access to justice and redress. The guide is available in English, French and Spanish.   This guide is based on a simple conviction: the movements fighting corruption and defending human rights must join forces to strengthen our actions and develop joint strategies to confront a phenomenon that inflicts profound harm on societies around the world.   "It is with this in mind that our organisations have joined forces to produce this guide. It aims to provide human rights defenders and anti-corruption activists with practical tools to promote accountability for grand corruption and the devastating human rights harm it causes. It sets out strategies for holding corrupt individuals to account and raising awareness of the violations that result from their actions", declared Gillian Dell, global advocacy lead, Transparency International.   According to Jimena Reyes, director for the Americas, FIDH, "The world is facing a polycrisis: pollution, climate change and the overexploitation of natural resources. At the same time, the very foundations of democracy —an independent judiciary, free and fair elections, and respect for the rule of law— are being profoundly undermined in many countries. Autocrats are clinging to power. The plague of corruption —involving kleptocratic elites, businesses or organised criminal groups— is one of the main causes of these phenomena. In the face of the devastation caused by grand corruption, doing nothing is not an option."   Sara Brimbeuf, head of advocacy on illicit financial flows, Transparency International France, explains that "Transparency International France’s experience in cases involving ill-gotten gains shows that asset recovery is a vital part of the fight against grand corruption. Identifying, seizing and returning misappropriated assets is not enough: it is also essential to ensure that their return is transparent, accountable and geared towards the needs of the affected communities. Only then can the fight against corruption help to redress the human rights violations it causes."   The guide covers the steps involved in linking incidents of corruption to human rights abuses and developing strategies for accountability and redress, including:   Understanding the links between corruption, human rights, victims and causality; documenting human rights violations and patterns of grand corruption; protecting individuals, data, sources and whistleblowers; holding individuals, companies and states to account; using advocacy mechanisms and quasi-judicial channels; using asset recovery as a tool for justice and redress.   Recognising that corruption fuels human rights abuses is vital to protecting human dignity. By placing victims at the centre of efforts, the anti-corruption and human rights communities can make progress in combating grand corruption and its impact on people and their rights.   http://www.fidh.org/en/issues/corruption/fidh-and-transparency-international-join-forces-to-tackle-corruption Visit the related web page
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