Belinda Luscombe
The arc of history, wise people have assured us, bends towards justice. But this year it has taken a very circuitous route according to many of the global aid agencies. Rich nations have cut off financial aid to poor nations. Wars have lasted longer and killed more people. Those who break international laws have suffered no consequences. Stable and resource-filled countries have turned inward, and escapees from dysfunction and chaos have flooded into already beleaguered regions. One agency, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which looks after refugees, calls the current situation “a new world disorder.”
In 2024, according to the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), there were 61 wars taking place across 36 countries, the highest number since World War II. “This is not just a spike–it’s a structural shift,” a PRIO researcher said at the time. Indeed in 2025, most of these conflicts dragged on and their effects were exacerbated. Waging war is expensive and the longer conflicts last, and the more desperate each side gets, aid workers say, the more likely opportunistic factions are to take advantage of the discord by trading weapons or cash for access to extractive resources or land at bargain prices. These outside agents then have a motive for obstructing peace efforts.
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