India, Aug. 4 -- Although there have been several on-off announcements about negotiations, ceasefires, and deals to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and between US-Israel and Iran, we are staring at a grim reality. Protracted conventional armed conflicts among countries are back in vogue, growing at an alarming rate, and proving to be intractable.

A study by the Norway-based Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) finds that direct inter-State conflicts have doubled in the past few consecutive years, jumping from two in 2023 to four in 2024, and reaching eight in 2025, which is the highest since data collection began in 1946. Comparing the current upward trajectory in inter-State wars with the Cold War era (1946-1989) and the po...