2015 World Conflict Guide: Asia, Europe and the Americas

December 29, 2014
Current Phase Began: 2002.
Nature: Naxalite insurgency.
Who's Involved: India security forces versus Maoist insurgents.
India carried out its first operational test firing of the Agni IV intermediate-range ballistic missile on Dec. 2. Capable of delivering a one-metric-ton warhead over a 4,000-km (2,500-mi.) range, the missile was fired by an Indian army Strategic Forces Command crew. Credit: Indian Defense Ministry
Current Phase Began: 2000s.
Nature: Strategic rivalry.
Who's Involved: China versus India. Agni V, India’s first mobile intercontinental missile, is expected to become operational in 2015.
Current Phase Began: 1947.
Nature: Territorial dispute (inactive)/nuclear rivalry.
Who's Involved: India versus Pakistan. Rising Indian fears of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks.
Current Phase Began: 2005.
Nature: Cross-border insurgency.
Who's Involved: Pakistan and U.S. covert operations versus Al Qaeda/Taliban insurgents. Drone strikes continue at lower levels than 2010 peak.
Current Phase Began: 1991.
Nature: Territorial dispute.
Who's Involved: Armenia, Azerbaijan dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Peace talks continue.
Top: European, U.S. and other fighter aircraft have responded to increasingly frequent probing missions by Russian bomber and reconnaissance aircraft during 2014. Here, a Royal Air Force Typhoon approaches a Tu-95MS cruise-missile carrier. Credit: Crown Copyright.
Bottom: Ukrainian army troops train in airborne operations with a Mil Mi-8 helicopter. Credit: Ukraine Ministry of Defense.
Current Phase Began: 2014.
Nature: Proxy war/Territorial dispute.
Who's Involved: Russian forces assisted local ethnic Russians in annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Russian-backed insurgents supporting secession of East Ukraine. Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 shot down in July.
U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel from the frigate Ingraham captured a semi-submersible vessel packed with $107 million worth of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific in May 2014. Credit: U.S. Navy/Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Jeremy P. West
Current Phase Began: 2000.
Nature: Global tension/Cyberwarfare.
Who's Involved: China declared an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea in November 2013. China’s Advanced Persistent Threat was confirmed as a military program aimed at U.S. defense data.
Current Phase Began: 1949.
Nature: Territorial dispute.
Who's Involved: China versus Taiwan, U.S.
Current Phase Began: 1953.
Nature: Territorial dispute.
Who's Involved: South Korea, U.S. versus North Korea.
Current Phase Began: 1989.
Nature: Nuclear development and missile exports.
Who's Involved: North Korea versus South Korea, Japan, U.S. Continuing North Korean research into land- and sea-launched missiles.
Current Phase Began: 2000.
Nature: Insurgency.
Who's Involved: Action continues against remaining Abu Sayyaf groups.
Current Phase Began: 1966.
Nature: Insurgency.
Who's Involved: Talks continue between FARC insurgents and government.
Current Phase Began: 2006.
Nature: Narco-terrorism.
Who's Involved: Government and vigilantes versus domestic criminal-terrorist organizations.
Current Phase Began: 2010.
Nature: Narco-terrorism/Cyberwarfare.
Who's Involved: Main source of narco-terrorist funding, with an estimated $30 billion reaching Mexican cartels annually. The National Security Agency was revealed in 2013 to be at center of massive cybersurveillance program aimed at U.S. and foreign nationals and foreign leaders.
Current Phase Began: 2010.
Nature: Cyberwarfare.
Who's Involved: Advanced Persistent Threat aimed at U.S. defense technology.

In 2015, Russia’s resurgent military ambitions are likely to conflict with internal economic turbulence. The international reaction to its actions in the Crimea and Ukraine, and to renewed activity by long-range air strike forces, has played a part in destabilizing the currency.  But in Asia, economic growth is fueling military rivalry, and forces worldwide are tied down in operations against traffickers and pirates.