"Hot spots" on the map of the planet are places of old and new military conflicts. Year after year, these abscesses bring innumerable calamities to the peoples inhabiting them. Experts are constantly monitoring the events that take place in these places. And they are trying to predict where the next fire of war will break out.
Hot spots of the planet
The most intense events in recent years have taken place in the following regions of the Earth:
- Afghanistan;
- Iraq;
- Africa;
- Syria;
- Gaza Strip;
- Mexico;
- Philippines;
- Eastern Ukraine.
Afghanistan
After the withdrawal of NATO forces in 2014, the Afghan government, which is forced to spend time and energy fighting between warring factions, is unable to maintain peace in the country and the safety of its citizens.
In 2012, relations between the United States and Afghanistan deteriorated sharply. The culmination of the events was the mass shooting of villagers in Kandahar province by an American soldier. Among the 17 victims of the massacre, there were nine children.
These events led to massive unrest and provoked a series of military actions by the Afghan military.
Experts believe that in the coming years, the country's ruling elite will continue to be torn apart by sharp contradictions. And the Taliban guerrilla movement will certainly take advantage of these differences to achieve their extremist goals.
Iraq
The Shiite government of Iraq increasingly comes into conflict with other ethnic and religious groups within the country. The ruling elites strive to take control of all institutions of power. This is leading to upsetting the already precarious balance between Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni factions.
Iraqi government forces oppose the Islamic State. At one time, the terrorists managed to include several Iraqi cities in their "caliphate". Tension also persists in the part of the country where the positions of the Kurds are strong, who do not abandon their attempts to create an Iraqi Kurdistan.
Experts note that the violence in the country is becoming more pronounced. The country will surely face a new round of civil war.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Problematic places in Africa:
- Mali;
- Kenya;
- Sudan;
- Congo;
- Somalia.
Since 2012, tensions have grown in those countries of the "black continent" located to the south of the Sahara. The list of "hot spots" here is headed by Mali, where power changed as a result of a coup d'etat.
Another troubling conflict has emerged in the Sahel region of northern Nigeria. In recent years, radical Islamists from the notorious Boko Haram group have killed thousands of civilians. The country's government is trying to apply tough measures, but the violence is only expanding: new forces from among the youth are pouring into the ranks of the extremists.
For more than two decades, lawlessness has reigned in Somalia. So far, neither the country's legitimate government nor the UN peacekeeping forces can stop these destructive processes. And even the intervention of neighboring countries did not lead to an end to the violence, the center of which was radical Islamists.
Experts believe that only a balanced and clear state policy can change the situation in this part of Africa.
Kenya
Conditions for conflict continue to persist in the country. Kenya is characterized by high youth unemployment, dire poverty and social inequality. Security reforms that were initiated have been put on hold. The experts are most alarmed by the growing ethnic disunity of the population.
The threat from militant groups that have settled in Somalia continues. A militant reaction from the local Muslim community may be a response to their attacks.
Sudan
The secession in 2011 of the southern part of the country did not resolve the so-called “Sudan problem”. The small local elite continues to accumulate wealth and seek to control the power in the country. The situation in this "hot spot" is aggravated by the growing confrontation between peoples of different ethnic groups.
The ruling party is torn by internal divisions. The general deterioration of the social situation and the recession in the economy lead to an increase in discontent among the people. The struggle against the unification of large groups in the states of Blue Nile, Darfur and Southern Kordofan is growing. Military action is devastating the state treasury. Civilian casualties have become commonplace.
According to experts, during the so-called Darfur conflict, at least 200 thousand people died, more than two million became refugees.
As one of the bargaining tools, the government uses humanitarian aid flowing to Sudan. This turns mass hunger among ordinary people into an element of the military and political strategy of the state.
Syria
The conflict in this country remains at the top of international news. The number of victims is growing. Western media every day predict the fall of the "regime" of Assad. Allegations of the deliberate use of chemical weapons against the people of his country continue to pour in against him.
The country continues to struggle between supporters and opponents of the current government. The gradual radicalization of the opposition movement is shaking the situation, the spiral of military confrontation begins to unwind with renewed vigor.
The relentless violence strengthens the position of the Islamists. They manage to rally around themselves those who have been disappointed by the policy of the Western powers.
Members of the world community are trying hard to coordinate their actions in the region and to transfer the conflict to the plane of political settlement.
In the eastern part of Syria, government forces have not been conducting active military operations for a long time. The activity of the Syrian army and allied Russian forces has moved to the western regions of the country.
The southern part of the province of Homs is dominated by the Americans, who occasionally clash with pro-government forces. Against this background, the country's population continues to endure hardships.
Gaza Strip
The list of problem regions also includes the Middle East. Here are Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon. The region's civilian population continues to be under the control of local terrorist organizations, the largest of which are Fatah and Hamas. From time to time, the Middle East is rocked by rocket attacks and kidnappings.
The long-standing cause of the conflict is the confrontation between Israel and the Arabs. In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Islamist movement is gradually gaining strength, against which Israel regularly conducts military operations.
Mexico
There are also conditions for conflict on the other side of the planet. Mexico remains a hot spot in North America. Here narcotic substances are produced and distributed on an industrial scale. There are giant drug cartels in the country, the history of which goes back more than one decade. These structures are assisted by corrupt government officials. Cartels can boast of very wide connections: they have their own people in the army, police, in the top leadership of the country.
Bloody conflicts arise between the warring criminal structures, in which the civilian population is involuntarily involved. Law enforcement and the Mexican army are involved in this ongoing confrontation, but success in the war against the drug mafia has failed. In some states of the country, the population does not trust the police so much that they even began to create local self-defense units.
Philippines
For several decades, the conflict between the government of the country and the armed groups of Islamic separatists who have settled in the south of the Philippines has continued. The insurgents' demand is the formation of an independent Muslim state.
When the positions of the so-called "Islamic State" in the Middle East region were greatly shaken, some of the Islamists from this region rushed to Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. Philippine government forces conduct regular operations against the rebels, who, in turn, stage periodic attacks on the security forces.
Eastern Ukraine
Part of the former Soviet Union has also turned into a "hot spot" of the planet. The cause of the protracted conflict was the desire of certain territories of Ukraine for independence. In this cauldron, which has spread to Lugansk and Donetsk, serious passions are boiling: interethnic conflicts, acts of terror, and the murder of leaders of the insurgent side are mixed with the threat of a full-scale civil war. The number of victims of the military confrontation is growing every day.
The situation in Donbass remains one of the central topics in news feeds around the world. Kiev and the West in every possible way accuse Russia of contributing to the expansion and deepening of the conflict, helping the self-proclaimed republics of southeastern Ukraine. The Russian authorities have consistently denied these accusations and have continued to call for a diplomatic solution to the issue.
