International | Forgotten conflicts

The world’s deadliest war last year wasn’t in Ukraine

Sudan is not a one-off. There’s a disturbing resurgence in civil wars

KHARTOUM, SUDAN - APRIL 18: A view of vehicles of RSF, damaged after clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan on April 18, 2023. The Sudanese army on Tuesday agreed to a temporary cease-fire with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (Photo by Omer Erdem/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Image: Getty Images
|KAYIN STATE, MYANMAR, AND PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

Fighter jets roar over Khartoum. Bombs rattle the Sudanese capital. Many civilians, sheltering from what may be the start of a civil war, wonder: “why?”

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Why are civil wars lasting longer?”

From the April 22nd 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Illustration of a metal periscope emerging from a large pile of white ballot boxes against a solid blue background

Over a billion have voted in 2024: has democracy won?

Half the world has had elections so far this year

Photo illustration of from left, Kim jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Ali Khomenei, all in profile overlapping and facing left

A new “quartet of chaos” threatens America

The rulers of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are growing worryingly close


A man sits outside a United Nations-run school in Khan Younis, Gaza

A UN vote on Palestine underlines America’s weakening clout

Russia and China are riding a surge of support for the Palestinians since the Gaza war started


Sport is getting hotter, harder and deadlier

As players vomit and boil, even John McEnroe reckons “it is not humane”

How encrypted messaging apps conquered the world

And why governments want to wrest back control

The poisonous global politics of water

Polarisation makes it harder to adapt to climate change