Contents

SIPRI Yearbook 2015

SIPRI Yearbook 2015
Contents
Preface
Abbreviations and conventions
- Conventions
- Geographical regions and subregions
SIPRI Yearbook online
Introduction
1. Introduction: international security, armaments and disarmament
- I. The erosion of state legitimacy
- II. Security governance
- III. Dynamics of peace and conflict
Part I. Security and conflicts, 2014
2. The armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq
- Overview
- I. The Syrian and Iraqi civil wars
- II. The socio-economic impact of the Syrian civil war
- III. Arms transfers and the use of force against the Islamic State
3. The Ukraine conflict and its implications
- Overview
- I. The Ukraine crisis: from popular protest to major conflict
- II. The application of European confidence-building measures and confidence- and security-building measures in Ukraine
- III. The impact of the crisis in Ukraine on arms transfers
- IV. Military spending in Europe in the wake of the Ukraine crisis
4. Armed conflict
- Overview
- I. Gender, peace and armed conflict
- II. The diversity of peace and war in Africa
- III. Patterns of organized violence, 2004–13
- IV. The Global Peace Index 2014
5. Peace operations and conflict management
- Overview
- I. Global and regional trends in peace operations
- II. New peace operations
- III. The end of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan
- IV. Table of multilateral peace operations, 2014
6. European security
- Overview
- I. The European security order under strain
- II. The military dimension of Euro–Atlantic security frameworks: the European Union and NATO
- III. The growth in European foreign terrorist fighters
7. Trends in East Asian security
- Overview
- I. Defence and security cooperation in the context of the US rebalance towards the Asia–Pacific
- II. Maritime disputes in the South and East China seas
- III. China’s security diplomacy initiatives
- IV. Japan’s national defence policy reforms
- V. China’s international counterterrorism cooperation
- VI. Russia’s evolving role in North East Asian security
8. Security and development: a primer
- Overview
- I. Beyond fragile states: understanding security and development through a systems approach
- II. Violence against healthcare in fragile systems
- III. Gender, security and development
Part II. Military spending and armaments, 2014
9. Military expenditure
- Overview
- I. Global developments in military expenditure
- II. US military expenditure
- III. The availability of military expenditure data
- IV. The reporting of military expenditure data to the United Nations
- V. Military expenditure data, 2005–14
10. International arms transfers and arms production
- Overview
- I. Developments in arms transfers, 2014
- II. Arms transfers and tensions in North East Asia
- III. Transparency in arms transfers
- IV. The financial value of states’ arms exports
- V. Arms production and military services
11. World nuclear forces
- Overview
- I. US nuclear forces
- II. Russian nuclear forces
- III. British nuclear forces
- IV. French nuclear forces
- V. Chinese nuclear forces
- VI. Indian nuclear forces
- VII. Pakistani nuclear forces
- VIII. Israeli nuclear forces
- IX. North Korea’s military nuclear capabilities
- X. Global stocks and production of fissile materials, 2014
Part III. Non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament, 2014
12. Nuclear arms control and non-proliferation
- Overview
- I. Iran’s nuclear programme and international concerns
- II. Russian–US nuclear arms control
- III. Developments in multilateral arms control and disarmament
- IV. International cooperation to enhance nuclear security
13. Chemical and biological security threats
- Overview
- I. Infectious diseases and international security
- II. Biological arms control
- III. Chemical arms control and disarmament
- IV. Chemical disarmament in conflict areas
14. Conventional arms control and military confidence building
- Overview
- I. Humanitarian arms control
- II. Small arms control measures
- III. Confidence- and security-building measures in Europe
15. Dual-use and arms trade controls
- Overview
- I. The Arms Trade Treaty
- II. Multilateral arms embargoes
- III. The export control regimes
- IV. EU export control developments
Annexes
Annex A. Arms control and disarmament agreements
- Notes
- I. Universal treaties
- II. Regional treaties
- III. Bilateral treaties
Annex B. International security cooperation bodies
- I. Bodies with a global focus or membership
- II. Bodies with a regional focus or membership
- III. Strategic trade control regimes
Annex C. Chronology 2014
About the authors
Errata

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SIPRI Yearbook 2015

2. The armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq

Chapter:: 2. The armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq
Source:: SIPRI Yearbook 2015
Author(s):: Aron Lund, Maha Yahya, Pieter D. Wezeman

The armed conflicts in Iraq and Syria intensified in 2014. A number of jihadist movements had notable successes, with the Islamic State (IS) in particular making rapid advances. Several factors have facilitated the rise of IS: years of severe conflict of an increasingly sectarian nature, a concurrent loss of state legitimacy, and large-scale social and institutional breakdown in both Iraq and Syria. However, IS is only one of the actors operating in the wider Iraqi–Syrian zone of war, which is characterized by social disintegration and sectarian polarization. It is a crisis that is also defined by an overlapping and often unclear assortment of allegiances backed by regional and international actors and associated support structures. This chapter discusses how the interlinked conflicts in Iraq and Syria developed in 2014.

Citation (MLA):: Lund, Aron, Maha Yahya, and Pieter D. Wezeman. "2. The armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq." SIPRI Yearbook. SIPRI. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2016. Web. 21 Jan. 2025. <https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780198737810/sipri-9780198737810-chapter-2.xml>.
Citation (APA):: Lund, A., Yahya, M., & Wezeman, P. (2016). 2. The armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq. In SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook 2015: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780198737810/sipri-9780198737810-chapter-2.xml
Citation (Chicago):: Lund, Aron, Maha Yahya, and Pieter D. Wezeman. "2. The armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq." In SIPRI Yearbook 2015: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, SIPRI. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016). Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780198737810/sipri-9780198737810-chapter-2.xml

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