Environment and security in the 21st century

Our complex, globalized world has created an environment that presents new challenges to countries striving for peace and security. While inter-state wars have become less frequent in the last 50 years, civil wars have become more common and intractable. Today the number of internal armed conflicts is rising, and fatalities are also increasing after years of decline (Davies et al., 2022). Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and various human rights violations continue to endanger peace and security subnationally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Racism and xenophobia are being used to divide people and societies; and rising political and social polarization is leading to violence in many countries or regions