8 hours ago
Global conflict levels highest since end of Second World War
Global conflict has risen to the highest level since the end of the Second World War, driven up by spiralling violence in the Middle East and Ukraine.
A total of 59 active conflicts are currently raging in more than 35 countries – the most since 1945 – with 152,000 conflict-related deaths recorded in 2024, according to the 2025 Global Peace Index, an annual report on armed violence.
The report published by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) captures a world on the brink, with the current unipolar world order in flux.
'We're ushering in a new age,' said Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the IEP.
'The current international order is at a tipping point. The world order is seeing its biggest chance since the Second World War,' he told The Telegraph.
The annual report takes a series of data points and ranks every country by how peaceful they are.
Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Austria and Switzerland topped the table in 2025, while the five least peaceful countries were Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Yemen.
The UK ranked as the 30th most peaceful, while the US ranked at 128 out of 163 countries.
'A fundamental realignment'
The report's authors also analysed the way in which different countries project influence beyond their borders, and found that the influence of the US, China and Russia on global affairs.
The influence of the US, China and Russia on the world order is waning, according to the report, with mid-level powers becoming more active and influential within their regions due to their rising wealth.
The number of countries wielding significant geopolitical influence beyond their borders has risen to 34, up from just six in the 1970s.
Nations like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, India, the UAE, Israel, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia have emerged as prominent regional powers.
'Middle power nations are rising. They're starting to become more and more active,' said Mr Killelea, adding that the transformation has been driven by intensifying great power competition and unsustainable debt burdens in the world's most fragile states.
'This is leading to a fundamental realignment and a possible tipping point to a new international order, the nature of which still can't be fathomed.'
Wars are becoming more internationalised, with more countries than ever involved in conflicts beyond their borders.
Ukraine and Russia, for example, rely on the support of numerous international allies, while there are also believed to be at least seven countries backing both sides of the civil war raging in Sudan.
Mr Killelea warned that Donald Trump's administration has unsettled the global economy and therefore could lead to an increase in conflict in years to come.
'The Trump administration's decisions have been globally unsettling on the economic outlook now,' he explained.
'As economic output plummets, it is likely to increase global tensions, which will lead to more conflict globally.'
