Questions tagged [armed-conflict]
Questions about a conflict or conflicts either inside a country (commonly known as civil war) or between 2 or more countries (more commonly known as war)
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Has any Western country in the (say) last 25 years threaten to retaliate militarily when a vessel not navigating under its flag was attacked?
Relating to the various attacks/seizures at sea in recent years, it seems to me Western countries draw a line between vessels formally navigating under flag of country X and those just owned by ...
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Are there any wars other than the 2023 Israel-Hamas War that are named after a country and a political party?
Background
The 2023 Israel–Hamas war is referred to in the Western media as "the Israel-Hamas war". All Western commentators I've seen, including military experts, journalists, and political ...
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Did the deaths of Russian generals previously have any measurable impact on the war in Ukraine?
Ukrainska Pravda recently reported on the death of another Russian major general:
Russia has confirmed the death of Major General Vladimir Zavadsky in the war in Ukraine. He was blown up by a mine.
...
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Have UN forces ever successfully defended a region?
One suggested solution for the Gaza strip, once Hamas is eliminated, is to put it under UN control. The suggestion was made by Germany:
“internationalization of Gaza under the umbrella of the United ...
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What was the selection criteria for people Russia judges in the "Azov trial"?
Based on Western media, it seems to me they are judging pretty insignificant cases like cooks (of the battalion) and what not. I do recall that Russia even exchanged some Azov combat personnel ...
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Approximately how many civilian deaths were caused by Bashar al-Assad's regime in the Syrian civil war?
According to Wikipedia, the war started In March 2011, violence in the war peaked during 2012–2017, and the situation still remains a crisis, with 12 million Syrians remained forcibly displaced in the ...
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Has Israel, or anyone else, confirmed the Hamas claim that some hostages have been killed by Israel's bombing attack?
Hamas says 60 hostages killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Strip since Oct. 7:
Hamas’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said Saturday that 60 Israeli hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes ...
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What recourse do international relief workers have if refugee camps where they work are bombed? [closed]
Israel's Netanyahu led government has recently been bombing Palestinian refugee camps:
Nov 01, 2023: Israel’s deadly attack on the Jabalia refugee camp: What we know so far
Nov 02, 2023: Gaza ...
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How many Americans support leveling Gaza? [closed]
This is from Oct 11, but oddly of [perhaps more] relevance [these days]:
“Level the place!” the senator said of Gaza in a Fox News interview in mid-October. He appeared to say it was okay to attack ...
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Do negotiations, especially concerning humanitarian concerns, ever include third party "witnesses"?
According to Netanyahu, Hamas refused an offer of fuel for the hospital. Hamas on the other hand claims Gazans don't have fuel for hospitals.
Netanyahu: Hamas refused Israeli fuel offer for Gaza's ...
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Does international law hold an Army accountable for killings done by other groups during a military attack?
Consider a situation where a country is partially occupied by another. An army unit strikes across a border town of the occupying force. Their military objective is to destroy an enemy defensive unit, ...
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Has support for providing more help to Ukraine (so they might win the war) tanked in Europe too, after the fizzled counter-offensive of this summer?
Time wrote on Nov 1
Public support for aid to Ukraine has been in decline for months in the U.S., and Zelensky’s visit did nothing to revive it. Some 41% of Americans want Congress to provide more ...
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What methods do experts use to determine if civilian casualties in a conflict are excessive (or not)?
I read (recently) for example that:
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) [...] stressed that such ...
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What is the purpose of observers within a war cabinet?
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas War, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
announced a war cabinet of the following composition.[40][41]
3 full members:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Minister of Defense ...
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Have the UK government explained exactly why a march for peace in Gaza on Armistice Day would be disrespectful?
It is reported that various members of the UK government consider a march calling for peace in Gaza planned in London on Saturday 11 November disrespectful. However, while there are multiple quotes ...
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What is the status of civilians occupying territories in a war, under international conventions?
Consider wars in which civilian population of an occupying country move into occupied land. For example,
Russian population moving into Crimea, Mariupol or other Ukrainian territories.
Israeli ...
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Are there any post-counteroffensive polls in Ukraine on war fatigue?
I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed this summer, with Russia gaining territory in the eastern part of the frontlines. Have there been any reliable ...
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What benefits does Israel's new "unity government" bring?
Israel was pretty deeply divided politically (most notably over the highly controversial Supreme Court reforms) before the Oct 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas shocked the country.
Shortly thereafter, a Unity ...
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What's the largest death by starvation (estimate) count during a siege in the past 30 years, and what level of condemnation did it receive?
I was able to find out that e.g. during the 2016 siege of Fallujah, which was occupied by ISIS at the time, around 140 civilians starved. The estimate given by Wikipedia seems to come from HRW (which ...
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What is the difference between a missile and a “rocket”? [closed]
For some reason when people describe the projectiles launched by Palestinian forces into Israel, they refer to them as rockets. But in all other contexts it seems like such would be called missiles.
I ...
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Is there a plausible military purpose for the recent use of white phosphorus in Gaza?
news agencies and human rights groups have suggested Israel may have used white phosophorus in Gaza last week (the week starting Oct 8):
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/12/israel-white-phosphorus-...
user10094
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Why don't/can't Israel unilaterally return Gaza to Egypt?
Why don't/can't Israel unilaterally return Gaza to Egypt? Egypt would have very strong incentives to pacify Gaza since any rockets sent from Gaza would then be seen as act of war by Egypt and motivate ...
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Has the Israeli left wing also endorsed the calls for Hamas to be killed to the last member?
According to media reports, the center-right part of the Israeli political spectrum has declared that the [ideal] goal of the military operation is to kill Hamas to the last member. Netanyahu and ...
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What action could a Russian citizen take in case of disagreement with authoritarian regime? [closed]
It seems to be a widespread opinion supported by polls that Russian population endorses Putin's regime in general and invasion of Ukraine in particular. Russian citizens are blamed for this in the ...
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Is there any historical evidence of conventional (non-guerilla) warfare techniques defeating hybrid guerilla warfare cost-efficiently?
Pardon my lack of warfare jargon.
Modernization of warfare in the last 3-4 centuries including the use of mobile artillery, tanks, mortars, etc., and relative/approximating implementation of the ...
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Who is the Israeli official that said that Gaza would be reduced to “a city of tents”?
An article in the Washington Post mentions that:
On Tuesday, an Israeli official told the country’s Channel 13 that Gaza would be reduced to “a city of tents.”
I'm trying to understand how serious &...
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What happens if Hezbollah targets the USS aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean? [closed]
The USS Aircraft Carrier Gerald R. Ford has arrived in the Mediterranean in a clear message to Hezbollah or any other party looking to escalate the conflict or widen the war between Israel and Gaza ...
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What is Hamas' strategy in attacking Israel?
Its clear from current events that Hamas can give Israel a bloody nose; it can fire thousands of missiles and send in fighters to kill lots of people. That is more than many expected them capable of, ...
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Has the downing of a spy airplane ever been a justifying ground for waging war or causing an escalation that might lead to war?
Both the cause of the collision and the assignment of blame were
disputed. The U.S. government stated that the Chinese jet bumped the
wing of the larger, slower, and less maneuverable EP-3. After
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War "strategism"
I'm just reading an article and I see this sentiment expressed:
Ukraine has been let down by a US-led reluctance to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs, meaning Kyiv lost a golden opportunity to ...
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What is the answer of Coal and Steel / EU based security framework regarding Russia [closed]
It is postulated many times that the EU was created to prevent a war between large countries of Europe and was successful in doing so:
The European Coal and Steel Community which is designed ...
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According to each of Russia and Ukraine, are Russia and Ukraine officially at war with each other?
My understanding is that while both countries are "obviously" at war, neither country has officially declared war on each other.
So, according to each of (1) Russia and (2) Ukraine, are they ...
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What are the practical differences between a "special military operation" and a war?
I have read a lot about why Russia wanted to call their invasion a "special military operation" (there were wildly different opinions) and I am now interested in the practical aspects of ...
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Why did Ukraine mobilize a relatively small number of soldiers for the war?
As far as I can tell, Ukraine mobilized less than 500 thousand people for the war effort. But given that the war is an existential crisis for the nation, why didn’t they mobilize a few million men in ...
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Does it make sense to nuke the whole planet as a country if you get nuked and you don't know which country nuked you? [closed]
Does it make sense to nuke the whole planet as a country if you get nuked and you don't know which country nuked you?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction
Mutual assured ...
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"Some 40 countries... on the sidelines of the (Russia v. Ukraine) war were invited to talks... in Saudi Arabia" Who was/wasn't invited? Who declined?
The New York Times' August 5, 2023 Ukraine Starts New Diplomatic Push to Weaken Russia begins:
Ukraine made a renewed push this weekend at a gathering in Saudi Arabia to win the support of dozens of ...
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Is there a process for certifying that a signatory to Geneva conventions is a bad-faith signatory?
Geneva conventions create a different (greater) set of obligations, by signatory states, towards the other signatory states than they do towards the non-signatory ones.
This creates an incentive for ...
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How common have war hawks been throughout history? [closed]
Recent events in the Ukraine war have got me thinking about the psychological profile of a leader like Vladimir Putin, and how that makeup is likely to lead social groups into recurring or ongoing ...
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Which countries has the RF designated as maritime warring parties in its war against Ukraine? [closed]
In a verbal exchange conveyed in this tweet (the original is in Russian, but it has English subtitles, which seem accurate), the Russian warship announces to a passing civilian ship
the country under ...
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Who gained more successes in Iran-Iraq war? [closed]
From the infobox of the Wikipedia article for the Iran-Iraq war:
Result:
Stalemate; both sides claim victory.
Iraqi failure to capture Iranian territories and bolster Arab separatism in Iran's ...
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Is a naval blockade considered a de jure, or a de facto declaration of war?
Let's say that China, or any other country for that matter, is subjected to a naval blockade by the United States, and as a result, China declares war against the United States. Will the diplomatic ...
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Why does the Latin letter Z represent the Russian military in the current conflict in Ukraine? [duplicate]
I do NOT repeat NOT mean to provoke any sort of political discussion with this question! I am simply trying to understand how the letter Z from the Latin alphabet has taken on its current meaning in ...
Henry
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How well informed are the Russian public about the recent Wagner mutiny?
The recent mutiny by the Wagner Group, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin played out in real-time on TV around the world. The Russian people will have watched Putin's statement about the mutiny but how ...
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Who was allied with Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Who in the Russian ruling elite was behind the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group?
Most media accounts do not list his high-level allies, other than Vladimir Putin himself. But ...
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What were the avoidable strategic mistakes that led to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine? [closed]
It is said that conflicts can be avoided by dialogue and dissuasion. I am deeply regretful of the severe and worsening conflict in Europe. I can't help to wonder what steps should have been taken to ...
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Are there military arguments why Russia would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
There is a similar question here asking why Ukraine would blow up the dam. Russia, however, controlled the dam and could have blown it up to slowdown the Ukrainian counteroffensive, that was planned ...
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Are there military arguments why Ukraine would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
Today the Dniepro river dam at Kakhovka was breached. It is not obvious which side is responsible. While the Ukrainina side blames the Russians, the Russian side, obviously, blames the Ukrainians. So ...
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Is there any evidence suggesting or refuting that Russian officials knowingly lied that Russia was not going to attack Ukraine?
Before the Russian full-scale attack on Ukraine, a number of Russian officials made statements to assuage fears of an imminent invasion:
Washington — Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly ...
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Which pro-Russian movements or parties are still left in unoccupied Ukraine?
I once saw on Telegram a Pro-Russian group called Law and Order or something.
I am asking if are there still some Pro-Russian groups left in unoccupied Ukraine.
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Based on International law, to what extent can Ukraine take aggressive military action within the territory of Russia?
I wonder, based on international law, if Ukraine takes aggressive military action in the territory of Russia, such as occupying some cities of Russia (I am not considering Donbas, Luhansk and Crimea ...
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