"Warlord" is a term that was commonly used in the 1990s in connection with civil wars in Liberia, Afghanistan and Somalia. During that time, it was used to describe leaders who waged war to further their own interests, with no regard for the degradation of countries. The 2026 Peace Report from four leading German peace and conflict research institutes focuses on the comeback of such actors in the 21st century.
"The new warlords undermine the international order," said Conrad Schetter from the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies as he launched the report on Monday in Berlin together with three other institutes. The conflict researchers listed several names, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Schetter accused them and others of essentially the same thing: "Using military violence is their preferred method of advancing their interests. In doing so, they do not care about international law." Schetter's colleague, Ursula Schröder from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) added: "We don't want to equate anything, but we do see patterns," referring to Putin, Trump, Netanyahu and other people in power.Middle East fears Iran-Israel fighting could become new normTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
