The document summarizes several ongoing conflicts and areas of tension around the world in 2020. It discusses the war in Afghanistan and rise of militancy in Pakistan. It also outlines the territorial disputes between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, and tensions in the East China Sea and South China Sea involving multiple countries making claims in the regions. Additionally, it provides context on the ongoing civil war in Syria and Yemen, as well as the North Korea crisis regarding its nuclear program.

1. Conflicting Areas of World, 2020
Alauddin Vuian

2. Asia-Pacific
War in Afghanistan
Militancy in Pakistan
Conflict between Indian & Pakistan
Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar
Territorial Disputes in
South China Sea
Tensions in East China Sea
North Korea Crisis

3. War in Afghanistan

4. Rise of Taliban
US-led invasion
NATO
9/11 & Al-Qaeda
in Afghanistan
Karzai in power
Afghan Army
Ashraf Ghani
Rise of IS
Insurgency continues….

5.  Soviet Afghan War (1979-1989): Daoud Khan toppled by a coup d'état (Sour
Revolution) and rise of communism in Afghanistan in 1978. Soviet troops left
Afghanistan in 1989.
 Afghan Civil War (1989-1996): Civil war erupted. Fall of Soviet Union in 1991.
Burhanuddin Rabbani, President and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, PM of
Afghanistan interim govt.
Afghanistan: A Flashback
 Rise of Taliban (from militia to govt.): Taliban ideology is based on Deobandi.
Backed by Pakistan Taliban they toppled Burhauddin Rabbani and ruled
Afghanistan until US invasion
 9/11 and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan:
 Fall of Twin Tower in Sep 2001. Al-Qaeda sanctuary in Afghanistan
 US-led Invasion in 2001: Global War on Terrorism>> Fall of Afghanistan in
December. Afghan Interim Administration formed led by Karzai
 Rise of IS:

6. May, 2018
Govt. 56.3%
Rebels 14.5%
Contested 29.2%
US troops 15,000
NATO troops
16, 229

7. Indo-Pak over Kashmir

8. 1947-First War
1949-Ceasefire
1965-Second War
1972-Simla Agreement
1999-Kargil War
LACLOC
2003-Hopes of Peace
2008- Trade Routes Opens
2016-Renewed Tensions
Kashmir Chronology

10. East China Sea Tensions

12. South China Sea
Territorial Disputes
China
Vietnam
Malaysia
Brunei
Philippines
Taiwan
Indonesia

13. 9 dash line

14.  Richest fishing areas
 Three groups of islands: Spratlys, Paracels, Scarborough shoal.
Area of 35 hundred thousand sq. kms.
 Oil (11 billion barrels) and GAS (190 trillion cubic feet) reserves
 Trade Route- $ 5.3 trillion (one-third of global maritime trade) worth of goods
moves thru per year. 40% of global LNG trade transited through in 2017. 40% of
Middle Eastern fossil fuel exports projected to go to Asia by 2035
 Importance of South China Sea Territories
 Geostrategic location for military installation, specially naval base
China Maritime Disputes
 Bone of Contention
 Contest between China and several Southeast Asian nations (Taiwan, Vietnam,
Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei) over territorial control in SCS.

15. South China Sea Territorial Disputes-2
 US Freedom of Navigation Operations.
 NINE Dashed Lines (1947) and TEN Dashed line (2013) encompassing
90% of the territory
 Chinese Hegemony in SCS Territories
 Chinese dredging up water sediment in disputed waters to make artificial
islands large enough to construct ports, military installations, and
airstrips. 3200 acres of new land created in the Spratly Islands since 2013.
China has 20 and 7 outposts in Paracels and Spartlys Islands. China has
militarized Woody Island by deploying fighter jets, cruise missiles, and a
radar system. Chinese chasing off non-Chinese ships from SCS territories.

16. North Korea
Missile Crisis

17.  A long history of dominations by foreign forces—China, the Mongols, the
Manchu, and Japan. The Hermit Kingdom of isolationist policy. Dictatorship by
Cult of Personality. Kim Jong Un - “Little Rocket Man”
North Korea Missile Crisis
 Korean War (1950-53)- Expansion of Communism vs Policy of Containment.
Armistice in 1953 and Korea divided.
 After WWII, USSR and US captured Korea from North and South respectively.
38th Parallel divided their occupation.
 North Korean Nuclear Program in action
 NK withdrawal from NPT in 2003.
 Six-Party talks (2003-2009) and NK missile and nuclear tests continued
intermittently
 Inter-Korean Summits- 2018 (April, May, Sep). Revival of Sunshine Policy

19. ROHINGYA
A Saga of ‘one of the world's most persecuted minorities’

20.  Mostly Muslims, Hindu a minority
Myanmar and Rohingya
 Bamar 68% (Rakhine 4%)
Buddhist 87.9% (Muslim 4.3%)
 Over 53 million people
 recognized 135 ethnic groups clustered
in 8 “major national ethnic races”
(Bamar, Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah,
Mon, Rakhine, Mon), ROHINGYA
excluded
1824-1948: British Rule
1948: Independence
Military dictatorships continues since 1962

21. Who are Rohingyas?
 An ethnic minority of the Rakhine State
 Not a SINGLE race group; a melting pot
by South Asian, Central Asian and
Middle Easter dissents since 7-8th
Century as traders, agriculturalist, crews
warriors, preachers, agro-labours, slaves
 Rohingya dialect different from
Chittagonian, Sylheti, Rangpuri or
Bengali; hardly linked because of
same Bengali-Assamese root; speak
Urdu, Burmese too

22.  1947 Constitution and 1948 Citizenship: ‘National Registration
Certificate’ with all citizenship rights awarded to Rohingyas
Root causes of Rohingya crisis-1
1. Recognition and Denial Game of Myanmar govt.
 1962-1988 (Ne Win): Process of marginalization
 Muslims of Rakhine denied National Registration Certificate since early 1970s
 1982 Citizenship Act:
 THREE categories of citizenship. Rohingya citizenship
stripped off
 Voting Rights existed till 2010; revoked in 2015
 White Cards annulled in 2015. Total denial of
Rohingya existence and rights

23. Root causes of Rohingya crisis-2
2. Planned, Systematic, State-sponsored Indoctrination
against Rohingya for adversary construction: Ne Win
(1962-1988), Sein Lwin, Saw Maung (1988-92), Than Shwe
(92-2011) Thein Sein (2011-16), so on…
3. Support for British in WW II
4. “Insurgencies”-Mujahideen Movements, ‘separatist
movements’ or ‘movements for rights’. Tadmadaw
crackdowns

24.  1942-45: Japanese with pro-Japanese (Arakanese/) Rakhine
Buddhists massacre of Rohingya. 40,000 Rohingya deaths
 1950-61: Several military operations- Operation Mayu (1952),
Operation Monsoon (1954) etc
 1978 exodus: ‘Operation Dragon King’ forced around 200,000
Rohingyas into Bangladesh . Almost all repatriated as ‘lawful
residents’ of Myanmar
 1991 exodus: ‘Operation Clean & Beautiful Nation’ forced 255,000
Rohingyas into Bangladesh. 236,599 were repatriated till 2005 as
‘members of Myanmar society’. 33,000 remains as refugees in
Bangladesh
Waves of Rohingya Exodus

25. Waves of Rohingya Exodus-2
 2005-2012: Rohingyas continued to enter Bangladesh in
small numbers on a regular basis due to marginalization
and persecution; about 300,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh
 2016, October attacks: about 87,000 fled Myanmar for
Bangladesh
 2017 August-September exodus: over 700,000 fled
Myanmar
 2018: About 1.2 million Rohingyas in Bangladesh

26. Bangladesh Position to Rohingya Crisis
 3- Point Proposals of HPM (73rd UNGA, 2018)
 Abolition of discriminatory laws, policies and practices and
address to root causes of forced displacement
 Creation of a conducive environment for sustainable
repatriation and guaranteeing of protection, rights and
pathway to citizenship
 Ensuring accountability justice for the Concerned in light of
the fact-finding mission of the UN Human Rights Council
recommendations.
 ‘National Taskforce on Implementation of National Strategy on
Myanmar Refugees and Undocumented Myanmar Nationals

27. Bangladesh’s approach
 Umbrella agreement “Arrangement of return of displaced persons from
Rakhine State” signed on November 23, 2017.
 Joint Working Group (JWG) along with its Terms of Reference (TOR) (19
Dec 2017) as well as a bilateral instrument on “Physical Arrangement for
Repatriation” (15-16 Jan 2018) concluded.
 Info of 8032 Rohingyas handed over to Myanmar for verification.
Completed.
 Info of 22432 Rohingyas handed over to Myanmar for verification in
October 2018
 Bangladesh has formed a Repatriation Task Force to expedite the
repatriation at the field level.

28. Middle East & North Africa
Civil War in Libya
Instability in Egypt
War in Yemen
I-P Conflict Instability in Iraq
Political Instability in Lebanon Civil War in Syria
Kurdistan

29. Kurdistan

30. Kurdistan

32. Syria Crisis

33.  Succumb to domino effect of Arab Spring- Sunni majority (74-75%)
dominated by Alawites (Shia sect) (12-16%), high unemployment,
corruption, long authoritarian rule of Assad family (Alawites, 1971-
2000-present), dominance of armed forces, security agencies in
policy formulation and implementation and a lack of political
freedom triggered pro-democratic movement.
 Clash between Ba’ath party of Assad and rebel groups (Free Syrian
Army, ISIL, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
 Proxy war- Iran, Russia and Hezbollah for Assad; Turkey, Qatar,
and Saudi Arabia for anti-Assad rebels. US has armed anti-Assad
rebel groups and led an international coalition bombing ISIL targets
since 2014.
 Accusation of Chemical Attack in Douma (7 April 2018).

34. Sep, 2018 TurkeySep, 2018

35. Yemen
Civil War

36.  1988- Two Yemen- South (capital Aden) was influenced by USSR-only
communist in Middle East; the North was Shia Islamist, South Sunnis
 1990- Unification of Yemen- Republic of Yemen. President from North
(Saleh) and Vice President from South (Salem). North population is Shia
(Houthis) and south Sunnis.
 1991- Yemen took a stand against intervention in Iraq during Gulf War.
In response West and Arab countries cut off financial support to Yemen.
 2007-2011- “Southern Movement” (separatist political group) from the
South came into being and participated in Yemeni revolution in 2011
 Arab Spring domino effect
 Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in a bid to force president
Ali Abed Allah Saleh to end his 33-year rule

37.  2012-15- Hadi became president. Houthis felt resentful and
wanted Saleh back. Conflict divides into two main categories:
pro-government forces led by president Hadi and anti-
government forces led by the Houthis, who are backed
by former president Saleh. Civil War broke out.
 Proxy War: Houthis backed by Iran; Hadi govt. by Saudi
Arabia.
 2015- International intervention led Saudi. 9 predominantly
Muslim countries and US flocked to restore Hadi to power.
 2016- Humanitarian crisis
 2017- Saleh tries to build relations with Saudi without Houthis and
got killed.

38. Sep, 2018
Saudi Arab
Oma
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