List of interstate wars since 1945

This is a list of interstate wars since 1945. Interstate warfare has been defined as military conflict between separate states over a territory, including irregular military forces legitimized by the laws of war applicable to interstate wars due to the invasion or annexation being unlawful. This does not include civil wars and wars of independence, or smaller clashes with limited casualties (fewer than 100 combat deaths). The largest interstate war in history, World War II, involved most of the world's countries, after which the United Nations (UN) was established in 1945 to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The post-WWII era has, in general, been characterized by the absence of direct, major wars between great powers, such as the United States and (until 1991) the Soviet Union.

1945–1989 Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum StartFinishName of conflictStates in conflictCombat deathsMin estimateMax estimateNovember 1945Iran crisis of 1946Azerbaijan People's Government2,000+Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 2,6047,5001948 Arab–Israeli War Syria 13,07326,373Operation Polo Hyderabad32,190202,190US State Department statement regarding "Korea: Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission" and the Armistice Agreement "which ended the Korean War."Korean War UN Command France Philippines Ethiopia Greece Netherlands 2,568,9274,096,927Chinese invasion of Tibet2945,814First Taiwan Strait Crisis9141,054Suez Crisis"Israel Routs Egypt""Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins" France Egypt"Nasser lost the war in military terms"2,8484,198Soviet invasion of HungaryPart of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Hungary3,222Ifni War1,197Second Taiwan Strait Crisis1,054Bay of Pigs Invasion DRF2,298Bizerte crisis654657Operation Trikora223Sino-Indian War2,1056,197Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation874Sand War 695001964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War Ethiopia1,0002,000Vietnam War North Vietnam FNL Khmer Rouge Khmer Issarak Pathet Lao1,326,4943,447,494Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 6,80013,459Korean DMZ Conflict South Korea739Six-Day WarArab Expeditionary Forces: Iraq

Sudan12,33619,264War of Attrition6,44214,290Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Bulgaria Hungary Poland254Football War3,000Indo-Pakistani War of 197111,50012,843Yom Kippur WarCombat support: Iraq

Shazly, p. 278. Gott, Cuba, A New History, p. 280. 10,52121,300Turkish invasion of Cyprus6,0099,509April 1974March 19751974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict Iran Iraq1,000+Western Sahara War10,00020,000Indonesian invasion of East Timor East Timor 51,000+Ogaden War Ethiopia South Yemen39,836Egyptian–Libyan War500Chadian–Libyan War8,500+Uganda–Tanzania War4,1354,323Cambodian–Vietnamese War People's Republic of Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea270,000297,000Sino-Vietnamese War36,945175,000Yemenite War of 19791,084Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991)6,000Soviet–Afghan War Afghan Mujahideen Afghan Interim Government600,0002,000,000Iran–Iraq War405,0001,200,000Falklands War907June 1982August 19821982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War Ethiopia6 June 19825 June 19851982 Lebanon War19,085+April Chadian–Nigerian War100+Invasion of Grenada102Agacher Strip War142First Nagorno-Karabakh War37,41356,000Mauritania–Senegal Border War200+United States invasion of Panama5403,338

1990–present Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum StartFinishName of conflictStates in conflictCombat deathsMin, estimateMax, estimatePersian Gulf War29,23159,231Transnistria War316637South Ossetia war (1991–1992)1,000+Croatian War of Independence5,0407,279Bosnian War 25,000 329,000War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)10,00030,000Cenepa War8441016 May 1997First Congo War AFDL SPLA Ex-FAR/ALiR Interahamwe CNDD-FDD UNITA ADF FLNC235,000250,00010 June 1999Kosovo War16,05616,87918 June 2000Eritrean–Ethiopian War53,000300,00026 July 1999Kargil War8845,60030 April 2000Second Chechen War20,00010 June 2000African Six-Day WarPart of the Second Congo War4,051+United States invasion of AfghanistanPart of the Afghan conflict Northern Alliance9,55014,3881 May 20032003 invasion of Iraq10,99653,016OngoingGaza–Israel conflict Gaza Strip 42,78312 August 2008Russo-Georgian War730 73731 October 20112011 military intervention in LibyaPart of the First Libyan Civil War Libya72403+26 September 2012Heglig Crisis316 1,485OngoingRusso-Ukrainian War (outline) 400,000650,000+Second Nagorno-Karabakh War7,726Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict (2022–present)7,000+2025 India–Pakistan conflict83210Twelve-Day War1,0911,22621 February 2026Ongoing2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war10045728 February 2026OngoingIran War3,4119,114+

See also List of wars: 1945–1989 List of wars: 1990–2002 List of wars: 2003–2019 List of wars: 2020–present

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