From Pakistan to Ukraine, global violence is in flux

As 2026 unfolds, the world’s relationship with political violence and militancy is no longer defined by clear wars between states and insurgents. Instead, we are living through a diffuse, simmering disorder one in which peace is often proclaimed, but violence is quietly managed rather than genuinely resolved.

Militancy and political violence did not fade in 2025. They reached into communities across the globe. From West Africa to the Middle East, South Asia and across, old patterns of uprising are being replaced by new, unpredictable forms of conflict that disrupt lives and unsettle societies. These struggles are driven less by ideology than by governance vacuums, unresolved grievances, and the contradictions of global power politics. Ideological, sectarian, and sub-national movements continue to exploit fragile societies already stretched by discrimination and political mistrust.

The militant landscape remains crowded and adaptive. Al-Qaeda affiliates, though weakened, remain embedded in local conflicts from the Sahel to Yemen. Daesh and its Khorasan offshoot have struck across borders, exploiting security gaps and radicalized networks. In South Asia, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have sustained violence by feeding on political alienation and unresolved center-periphery tensions.
In parts of Africa, Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has expanded influence by stepping into governance vacuums where the state is absent or distrusted. 

The world today is shaped less by order than by negotiated disorder. 

- Syed Kaleem Imam

Equally troubling is the rise of lone-actor violence far from traditional conflict zones. The Bondi Beach firing in Australia, attacks in European city centers, and shootings across North America reveal a pattern: violence shaped less by organized networks than by personal grievance, social isolation, and online radicalization. These acts are intimate and terrifying, reminding us that terror now reaches far beyond the frontlines.

Political violence is now resurfacing in forms that blur the line between protest and insurrection. In Nepal, prolonged street agitation has forced changes in government. Bangladesh has seen cycles of violent mobilization that reshape power. Indonesia, once seen as a democratic success, now faces rising street polarization and identity-driven politics. While contested elections and mass protests in Madagascar have repeatedly destabilized governments. Whereas of late in Iran, widespread protests over social and political grievances have been met with harsh crackdowns, dangerously narrowing space for dissent.

What makes this moment particularly dangerous is that states simultaneously condemn violence and enable it. Governments denounce terrorism in principle, yet support armed groups when it serves strategic interests. Proxy warfare is no longer hidden behind plausible deniability; it is increasingly overt. 

In Gaza and Israel, overwhelming military force and proxy dynamics have turned civilian spaces into battlefields with little restraint. In Sudan, external support to competing generals has transformed a political struggle into one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. 

How ill-fated that across regions, armed actors are financed, armed, or politically shielded to weaken rivals, pressure adversaries, or suppress dissent while civilians bear the consequences.
The world today is shaped less by order than by negotiated disorder. Conflict is tolerated as long as it remains “manageable.” Civilian suffering is absorbed into policy calculations. Human rights, ethical norms, and the rule of law are invoked loudly in diplomatic forums, but quietly ignored on the ground.

Looking back, 2025 marked a turning point whose consequences continue to ripple through the world. Having spent decades studying and confronting political violence, I have seen how its human cost is too often reduced to statistics, while families live under checkpoints, drones overhead and daily fear.

The threat today is not just the persistence of violence, but its normalization. It has become predictable, tolerable, and constantly evolving into new forms. Recent US operations, including targeted strikes and the controversial kidnapping of figures in Venezuela, illustrate a stark reality. 

As 2026 unfolds, terrorism and political violence are no longer merely rebellion for a cause. They are symptoms of a global disorder where governance is weak, power is transactional, and accountability selective. Major conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza and Sudan or any, show how wars are no longer resolved but managed, sustained by arms flows, geopolitical rivalries, and carefully able escalation. Stability is simulated through firepower, while inequality, exclusion, and political humiliation fester.

Unless states abandon the illusion that security can be imposed through force alone, armed groups will continue to adapt faster than institutions can respond. If the rule of law, international norms, and a rules-based order continue to be sidelined, and the United Nations and multilateral mechanisms are weakened or ignored, the world risks a future defined less by peace than endurance.

Tough times lie ahead not because order is absent, but because it is slowly eroding. Haven’t the scorched cities of World War II already warned us? We must heed the warning and act without delay to end the politics of violence before the next tragedy strikes.

- The writer PhD, is former federal secretary/IGP/UN Police Commissioner-teaching Law and Philosophy at Universities. He tweets@Kaleemimam. Email:[email protected]: fb@syedkaleemimam