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The 21st century may be the most peaceful in history so far, but we are still not completely free from wars and conflicts. From 1980 to the present day, Modern Conflicts explores recent struggles between nations and peoples.
2022
For 4 long years, the largest city in Syria was torn apart in one of the largest and most ferocious battles of the 21st century. This is the story of how and why Aleppo was so fiercely fought over between the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his allies on the one side, and various rebel factions and their allies on the other.
In 2008, Russia initiated a full-scale invasion into Georgia in what became the first European war of the 21st century.
Across the 1990's and early 2000's, the Republic of Chechnya attempted to secede from Russia and achieve independence.
In 2003 the US and its allies invaded Iraq under the pretext of dismantling Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
Russia’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War to assist Assad’s regime lead to a triumph in geopolitics for the Kremlin.
The war fought between Moldova, the breakaway state of Transnistria, and Russia.
Since 2017, China has been carrying out the largest genocide of the 21st century, targeting the Uyghur people East Turkestan.
The longest war in American history was the one fought for nearly 20 years in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021.
The first phase of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine from the February 24 when the Russians first attacked to the April 7, 2022.
After failing to capture Kyiv the Russian army began to refocus everything on the eastern front and the battle for the Donbas.
In 2014, Yemen descended into an initially two-sided civil war between the Shia-adjacent Houthis & the largely Sunni government.
Libya was once among Africa's most prosperous nations until 2011 when the country descended into chaos and instability.
2021
There's a lot of messy and complicated borders in the world. But all of them pale in comparison to the world's most controversial border situation: the boundary between Israel and Palestine. In this video, I attempt to explain the whole situation with as little bias as possible. Thank you for watching
For 6 weeks in 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war saw the use of advanced technology and modern tactics, the intervention of several foreign powers and ended with a decisive victory for Azerbaijan. This is how the war unfolded.
For the past 7 years, the deadliest war in Europe of the 21st century century has been raging in Eastern Ukraine. The war has killed thousands, displaced millions, and brought economic devastation to both Ukraine and Russia. This is the war explained from beginning to end in under 30 minutes.
For the past 14 years, Israel has maintained a complete land, air and sea blockade over the Gaza Strip and the 2 million Palestinians who live inside. This is the Israel-Gaza conflict explained.
The modern war in Afghanistan didn't begin with the American and allied invasion of 2001. Its origins are significantly more complex and date back to the 1970's. This is the War in Afghanistan before the American part of the story.
The conflict between North and South Korea has been raging for more than 7 decades now. The Korean War fought in the 1950's led to the deaths of millions and changed very little geopolitically. The most severe escalations in the conflict since then, have all happened in the 21st century. This is a full overview of the combat operations fought between North and South Korea since the year 2000.
The United States and Iran have one of the most controversial, important and dangerous relationships in the world. The 2 nations have come dangerously close to war in the past on multiple occasions and in order to understand why, you've got to understand the history of American-Iranian relations. This video attempts to condense this enormous subject into a mere 23 minutes.
Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq for nearly a quarter of a century and throughout that time, he initiated 2 enormous wars that resulted in the deaths of millions and brought together the largest international coalition ever formed since the Second World War against him. This is the story of how and why a single man led Iraq directly into the abyss at the end of the 20th century, and created the modern world in the process.
Greece and Turkey have one of the world's most ancient and bitter geopolitical rivalries that stretches back nearly 1,000 years. The modern conflict between the two is familiar, but also quite different than it's been at any time before in the past.
2026
In October of 1993, the US military attempted to use helicopters to conduct a raid in Somalia to capture two wanted militants. However, what was initially planned to be a quick 1 hour in-and-out mission turned into a brutal 17 hour-long battle after three of the American helicopters participating in the raid were shot down. This is the whole story of the Black Hawk Down Incident.
2025
On November 27, 2024, an offensive would begin that would bring the Assad regime in Syria to a stunning end in just 11 days.
Israel’s invasion of Gaza, the ICJ’s court case, and accusations of genocide.
Ukraine’s 2024 incursion into the Russian Kursk Oblast from August to October.
The story of Joaquín Guzmán’s empire, his escapes, recaptures, and eventual extradition.
On the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the US suffered another attack, this time abroad.
2023
How the Ukrainian Army decisively pushed back against the Russians at the end of 2022.
Why the Tigray War in Ethiopia, which only ended in 2022, remains the 21st-century's deadliest conflict.
What initially began as protests against the country's regime steadily morphed into a civil war lasting for more than a decade.
How ISIS managed to quickly rise to the apex of their power across Iraq and Syria by 2015.
How an unprecedented coalition of nations and organizations from all around the world destroyed ISIS between 2014 and 2019.
How the fighting for control over the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut evolved into Europe's most catastrophic battle since WWII.
The War between the Turkish government and the PKK from its origins in the 1980s into the present day.
How Myanmar became Southeast Asia's only failed state.
The history of the conflict between Israel and Gaza between 1987 and 2023.
How the Lebanon Civil War produced Hezbollah.
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2024
Throughout the 1990s a series of wars were waged across the Western Balkans as the former state of Yugoslavia collapsed.
From 2003 through 2005, the first legally defined genocide of the 21st-century took place in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The 2013 French military intervention into Mali, and the ensuing decade-long counterinsurgency operation.
Analysis of the 2023 Ukraine counteroffensive and what went wrong for the Ukrainian side.
In 2020 & 2021, thousands of Indian & Chinese troops engaged in fights along the disputed border in Jammu & Kashmir.
How the Taliban shocked the world by re-conquering Afghanistan in only a matter of months over the summer of 2021.
Al-Qaeda's evolving strategy fighting the US from the 1980's up until 9/11.
America's Global War on Terror, and the manhunt for al-Qaeda's leadership.
Hamas’s attack on October 7 and Israel’s intelligence failure in preventing it.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the peace process, and questions in the present day.
The origins of Rwanda’s ethnic conflict and the genocide that occurred from April to June 1994 and what followed afterwards.
After unsuccessful attempts to break through Avdiivka’s powerful, fortress of defenses, Russia tried again in October of 2023.