Types of Conflict (DP IB Global Politics: HL): Revision Note

Interstate conflict

• Interstate conflict occurs between two or more internationally recognised sovereign states

  • It is the form of conflict most commonly associated with traditional warfare

Characteristics of interstate conflict

• Fought using conventional military forces in organised, large-scale operations

• The objectives of each side are generally clear, such as territorial gain, regime change or self-defence

• Global governance institutions such as the United Nations (UN) are likely to become involved to facilitate peace or mediate a ceasefire

Current examples

A more complex example

• Israel-Palestine

  • A long-running conflict over land and statehood that does not fit neatly into the interstate category

  • Palestine is not universally recognised as a fully sovereign state, which makes classification difficult

  • The conflict shares characteristics of both interstate conflict (organised military operations between distinct political entities) and other forms of conflict, including identity and resource-based causes

  • It is a useful reminder that real-world conflicts rarely fall cleanly into a single category

Intrastate conflict

• Intrastate conflict takes place within a single state

  • It typically involves the state government and a non-state actor - a group that is not an official government or military

  • Examples include civil wars, violent resistance movements, terrorism and rebel uprisings

• Once one group begins to violently challenge the state, others often follow, making the conflict harder to resolve

Characteristics of intrastate conflict

• Objectives are not always clear and can be complex, involving a mix of political, economic and identity-based motives

• Intrastate conflict is usually asymmetrical - one side, typically the government, holds significantly more military power and resources than the other

• Non-state actors tend to use tactics that avoid direct confrontation, including terrorist attacks, cyber attacks and guerrilla warfare

• Non-state actors may deliberately target civilians or operate from within civilian populations, making them difficult to counter

• Intrastate conflict is one of the most significant threats to state sovereignty, as it directly challenges the state's exclusive right to use force

Current examples

A more complex example

Syria

• The Syrian conflict, which began in 2011, started as an intrastate conflict between the government and opposition groups but evolved to involve foreign states, multiple non-state actors and terrorist organisations

• It illustrates how intrastate conflicts can rapidly become internationalised, blurring the boundary between intrastate and interstate conflict

• It is a useful reminder that conflict categories are not fixed - real-world conflicts often shift and change over time

Non-state and extra-state conflict

• Non-state conflicts are between two actors who are not states

• Extra-state conflicts occur between a state and a non-state actor outside of state borders