Perpetual War - Examples in The Present

Examples in The Present

• The dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan, and over various Himalayan regions between China and India, ongoing since 1947 in the former case and 1962 in the latter, have led to the formation of the line of control and the Line of Actual Control respectively. Along these theaters the armed forces of the involved countries stand in continuous preparedness on such battlegrounds as the Siachen glacier. Major flare-ups from time to time have resulted in the Indo-Pakistani Wars and the Sino-Indian War.

• The Arab-Israeli Conflict has been a perpetual war that began with the battle of Tel Hai in 1920 before the creation of Israel in 1948. Disputes between Israelis, some of whom are Jews, with Palestinians, some of whom are Arabs, for control of the area go back at least to the beginning of significant Zionist immigration in 1881, a result in part of Russian persecution of Jews who were wrongly blamed for the assassination of Alexander II. This perpetual war is also traced to the beginning of Arab Nationalism that began with the pan-Arabist covenant in 1931. Various governmental and non-governmental factions of Israelis and Palestinians continue to dispute ownership of certain lands in the former British mandate of Palestine, which has led to recurring conflict, both violent and political, in both the disputed territories and Israeli cities. Syria is in a perpetual state of war with Israel for the stated reason that Israel expropriated Syria of the Golan Heights in 1967 following its victory in the 6-Day War.

• North Korea and South Korea have been in a fluctuating Hot war/Cold war relationship since the Korean War began in 1950. The Korean Peninsula Cold War officially continues, as the "hot war" came to an end with an Armistice (the Korean Armistice Agreement of July 27, 1953) resulting in a cease-fire and creation of a demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, rather than with a treaty of peace or of surrender. North Korea and South Korea manifest an open condition of hostility toward one another across a shared border continuously patrolled by their respective armies since active combat from the active war ended in 1953.

• The Colombian armed conflict (1964–present) is a complex perpetual war between the following three factions: (1) the Colombian government, which is the formal nation of Colombia represented by the vast majority of its society (rural and urban, poor and rich), the Colombian politicians, business interests, and military; (2) the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which in Spanish is "Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia", is abbreviated FARC, and claims to represent rural poor Colombian people, especially by appealing to Marxism–Leninism; and (3) the National Liberation Army, which in Spanish is "Ejército de Liberación Nacional", is abbreviated ELN, and, like FARC, also claims to be representing rural poor people, but unlike FARC, emphasizes Liberation theology more than Marxist—Leninism.

• The War on Terror (also known as the "Global War on Terror" and "War on Terrorism") is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign begun in 2001 by the United States and the United Kingdom, with support from other countries. The phrase 'War on Terror' was first used by US President George W. Bush on 20 September 2001. The Bush administration and the Western media have since used the term to denote a global military, political, legal and ideological struggle—targeting both organizations designated as terrorist and regimes accused of supporting them. It was typically used with a particular focus on militant Islamists and al-Qaeda. The phrase "War on Terror" has been used to specifically refer to the ongoing military campaign led by the US, UK and their allies against organizations and regimes identified by them as terrorist, and excludes other independent counter-terrorist operations and campaigns such as those by Russia and India.