6. Armed conflict and peace processes in the Middle East and North Africa

Chapter:

6. Armed conflict and peace processes in the Middle East and North Africa

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2021

Author(s):

Ian Davis

There were seven states with active armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in 2020 (the same as in 2017–19): Egypt (low-intensity, subnational armed conflict), Iraq (internationalized civil war), Israel (low-intensity, extrastate armed conflict), Libya (internationalized civil war), Syria (internationalized civil war), Turkey (low-intensity, extrastate and subnational armed conflict) and Yemen (major internationalized civil war). All the armed conflicts had fewer fatalities than in 2019. Overall, conflict-related fatalities have reduced by almost 70 per cent since 2017, and in 2020 Yemen remained the region’s only major armed conflict (i.e. with fatalities greater than 10 000 people). Many of these conflicts were interconnected and involved regional and international powers, as well as numerous non-state actors. Tensions between Iran and the United States again threatened to escalate into a more serious interstate military conflict. The Covid‑19 pandemic appears to have had minimal impact on the region’s armed conflicts, although it clearly added another layer of complexity to the existing humanitarian challenges. Anti-government protests occurred throughout the region, with mass protests in Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon.