Since the UN was founded in 1945, howmany new wars have erupted?

Question

Sorry, I was making a comment and deleted instead..here's the comment:
Since man's best hope for peace was founded, there have been over ??? wars. Our two no-win wars, Korea and Vietnam (via SEATO), had UN roots.

Answer 1

"War" is so vague a concept that there's no way to answer that as is. Does this include civil wars, inter-ethnic wars, genocides? What if 2 countries have a border that neither recognizes and go to war over it, and one of them "swallows" the other -- does that constitute "war?" War is defined only by the number of casulaties involved (1,000 +), not by objectives, motives or outcomes.

Anyhoo, the most comprehensive data set on the subject of inter-whatever conflict is the U. of Michigan's "Correlates of War" project, which documents every conflict since 1816. According to their calculations (and by manipulating the Excel spreadsheet available at: http://www.correlatesofwar.org/COW2%20Data/MIDs/MID302.html
(MIDB_3.02.csv)
there have been a total of 194 actual "wars" between 1945 and 2001, and that does not include the more than 3000 (!) different disputes that went on since 1945.

I spent waaaay to much time trying to get this answer as accurate as possible! I think the point is, the UN is NOT an effective measure for maintaining peace in the international system. It is, however, a very effective outlet through which anyone wishing to resolve diplomatic disputes without violence -- is able to do so. Its also a good place to get a sense of what the international community -- as a whole -- feels on any given issue.

Answer 2

Wars Since 1945

Answer 3

It is way underestimating the number of wars and conflicts by just being American centered. In African there have been dozens. In the Middle East there have been wars (Iran vs. Iraq) that put anything else in the post UN period way behind (or ahead?). I think it is impossible to count the number of wars because the word itself isn't clear and one is also thinking of armed conflicts. Does Lebanon, Israel vs. Egypt, Israel vs Syria, Israel vs. Palestine, Lebanon vs. Syria, ... how many would you like to count?

I think it safe to say there have been hundreds of armed conflicts/wars/actions ... hundreds ... the UN has probably not solved half that many, or any at all, depending on your perspective

Answer 4

As far as I could find out, there have been 156 recognized wars since 1945. this doesn't include "conflicts" or "uprisings".

And yes, I did use the web, of course I don't know all these wars. Awesome question though!

1945-1949 Chinese Civil War
1945-1949 Indonesian National Revolution
1946-1949 Greek Civil War
1946-1954 First Indochina War
1947 Paraguayan Civil War
1947-1949 Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
1948 Costa Rica Civil War
1948-1949 First Arab-Israeli War
1948-1960 Malayan Emergency
1949-1959 Chinese Invasion of Tibet
1950-1953 Korean War
1952-1960 Mau Mau Uprising
1954-1975 Second Indochina War
1959-1975 Vietnam War
1962-1975 Laotian Civil War
1967-1975 Cambodian Civil War
1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence
1955-1972 First Sudanese Civil War
1956 Suez War (Second Arab-Israeli War)
1956 Hungarian Uprising
1956-1959 Cuban Revolution
1957-1958 Ifni War
1958 Lebanon crisis of 1958
1960-1965 "Congo Crisis"
1960-1996 Guatemalan Civil War
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
1961-1975 Angolan War of Independence
1961 Invasion of Goa
1962-1966 Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation
1962-1975 Guinea-Bissauan War of Independence
1962 Sino-Indian War
1962 Indonesian annexation of Western New Guinea
1962-1966 Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation
1962-1970 Yemen Civil War
1962-1975 Dhofar Rebellion
1963 Sand War
1964-1975 Mozambican War of Independence
1964-Present Colombian Armed Conflict
1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
1965-1993 Chadian Civil War
1965-1966 Indonesian Civil War
1965-1989 South African Border War
1966-1988 Namibian War of Independence
1966-1979 Second Chimurenga(Rhodesian Bush War)
1967 Six-Day War (Third Arab-Israeli War)
1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War
1967-Present Communist insurgency in the Philippines
1968-1970 War of Attrition
1969-Present Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines
1969 Football War
1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict
1969-1994 The Troubles in Northern Ireland
1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
1971 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
1972 Libya-Sudan conflict
1973 Yom Kippur War (Fourth Arab-Israeli War)
1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus
1974-1991 Ethiopian Civil War
1975-1989 Angolan Civil War
1975-1991 Western Sahara conflict
1975-1991 Lebanese Civil War
1975-1978 Indonesian invasion of East Timor
1975-1998 East Timorese War of Independence
1975-1992 Mozambican Civil War
1975-2006 Independence War in Cabinda
1977 Libyan-Egyptian War
1977-1978 Ogaden War
1977-1991 Cambodian-Vietnamese War
1978 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
1978-2005 The Aceh War
1978-1979 Uganda-Tanzania War
1978-1987 Chadian-Libyan conflict
1979 Sino-Vietnamese War
1979-1982 First Chadian Civil war
1979-1989 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
1980-1989 Soviet war in Afghanistan
1980-1987 Chadian-Libyan conflict
1980-1992 El Salvador Civil War
1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War
1980-present Internal conflict in Peru
1981 Paquisha War
1981-1988 Ugandan Bush War
1982 Falklands War
1982 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
1983 U.S. Invasion of Grenada
1983-Present Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
1983-2005 Second Sudanese Civil War
1984-present Kurdish insurgency in Turkey
1984-present Free Papua Movement
1984 Siachin War
1985 Agacher Strip War
1987-1993 First Intifada
1984-present Second Ugandan Civil War
1988-Present Casamance Conflict
1988-Present Somali Civil War
1988-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh war
1989-1991 Mauritania-Senegal Border War
1989-1990 U.S. Invasion of Panama
1989-1997 First Liberian Civil War
1989 Romanian Revolution
1984-present Kashmir conflict
1990-1991 Gulf War
1990-1994 Rwandan Civil War
1990-1998 Tuareg Rebellion
1991-2002 Algerian Civil War
1991-2001 Yugoslav Wars
1991 Slovenian War
1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence
1992-1995 Bosnian War
2000-2001 Preševo valley crisis
2001 Macedonia conflict
1991-1993 Georgian Civil War
1991-1992 South Ossetian War
1992-1993 War in Abkhazia
1991-1997 Sierra Leone Civil War
1992-1997 Tajikistan Civil War
1993-present Conflict in the Niger Delta
1993-1999 Burundi Civil War
1993-Present Ethnic conflict in Nagaland, India
1993-Present Brazilian gang violence
1994 1994 Yemeni Civil War
1994-1996 First Chechen War
1994-1998 Second Chadian Civil War
1995 NATO bombing of Republika Srpska
1995 Cenepa War
1996-1997 First Congo War
1996-2006 Nepal Civil War
1997 Unrest in Albania
1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea War
1998 U.S. bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan
1998 U.S. bombing of Iraq
1998-2002 Second Congo War
1999-2006 Ituri Conflict
1999 Kargil War
1999 Dagestan War
1999-Present Second Chechen War
1999-2003 Second Liberian Civil War
2000-2006 Al-Aqsa Intifada
2000-Present Conflict in Laos involving the Hmong
2001 Indo-Bangladesh Border Conflict of 2001
2001-Present U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan
2001-Present Civil War in Côte d'Ivoire
2003-present Balochistan conflict, Pakistan
2003-present Central African War
2003-present Darfur conflict, Sudan
2004-present Central African Republic Civil War
2005-present Chad-Sudan conflict
2006-present Central African War
2003-present Iraq War
2004-2006 Waziristan War
2004 Haiti rebellion
2004-present Sa'dah conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006-2007 Palestinian factional violence
2006-present Mexican Drug War
2006-present War in Somalia (2006–present)