UCDP Update Alert

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Update Alert No. 11
27 August, 2012

Major data releases

The UCDP released six new versions of the annually updated datasets in mid-July and early August. The updated versions of the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset and the UCDP Dyadic Dataset were released on 12 July. The latest versions of the UCDP Actor Dataset, the UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset, the UCDP Non-State Conflict Dataset and the UCDP One-sided Violence Dataset were released on 3 August.

UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset v.4-2012

The latest version of the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset contains the updates for the armed conflicts waged in 2011, as well as a number of revisions for the years 1946-2010 (these can be viewed in the version history file). The dataset is presented in the Journal of Peace Research, complete with a description of armed conflicts in 2011.

UCDP Dyadic Dataset v.1-2012

In conjunction with the release of the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset the UCDP has also released a dyadic version of the dataset. The UCDP Dyadic Dataset lists all dyads active in armed conflicts from 1946-2011 and is thus more disaggregated than the UCDP/PRIO version of the data.

UCDP Actor Dataset v2.1-2012

The latest version of the UCDP Actor Dataset contains information on all the actors that have ever been included in the UCDP's datasets on organized violence. Amongst other things the dataset contains IDs for all actors, making it possible to easily track one actor across different categories of violence. The dataset also features information on rebel group splits, merges and alliances.

UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset v5-2012

The UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset; a conflict-year and dyad-year dataset, contains information on the number of battle-related deaths in the conflicts that appear in the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset for the years 1989-2011.

UCDP Non-State Conflict Dataset v2.4-2012

The latest UCDP Non-State Conflict Dataset has a temporal scope covering 1989-2011. It contains information on non-state conflicts, i.e. conflicts between two armed groups, neither of which is the government of a state. The dataset gives information on fatalities caused by these conflicts on a yearly basis, as well as on start- and end dates and locations.

UCDP One-sided Violence Dataset v1.4-2012

The latest version of the UCDP One-sided Violence Dataset; an actor-year dataset, contains information on intentional attacks on civilians by governments and formally organized armed groups.

All datasets can be downloaded from www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets.

UCDP Conflict Encyclopedia

UCDP Conflict Encyclopedia updated for 2011

The 2011 update of UCDP’s state-based, non-state conflict and one-sided violence categories in the UCDP Conflict Encyclopedia (UCDP database) has now been completed. Updates regarding the conflicts, battle-related deaths and actor descriptions are now available for perusal, complete with variable- and annual-level search possibilities.

UCDP Charts & Graphs

Release of new charts & graphs for 2011

The UCDP's charts and graphs section has now been updated with the latest UCDP data. The charts and graphs now cover the UCDP’s state-based, non-state conflict and one-sided violence categories for 1989-2011. The section includes illustrations of for example armed conflicts by type and year and by intensity and year as well as a map of the world's conflicts in 2011.

Publications

The UCDP’s latest data on armed conflicts in 2011 published in Journal of Peace Research

The UCDP article “Armed Conflicts, 1946-2011” by Lotta Themnér (formerly Harbom) and Peter Wallensteen was published in the July issue of Journal of Peace Research (JPR).

This year’s article, “Armed Conflicts, 1946-2011”, presents the latest developments on armed conflicts during 2011 by drawing on data from the most recent version of the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset (v.4-2012) as well as from the UCDP Conflict Encyclopedia. In 2011, an unusually sharp increase in the number of conflicts has been observed (37 in 2011 compared to 31 in 2010), including six wars, of which several were new or smaller that escalated (e.g. Libya, Yemen, Sudan). There was one inter-state conflict recorded (Cambodia-Thailand) and only one peace agreement, which was undone within three days.

UCDP data published in the SIPRI Yearbook 2012

UCDP contributed to the SIPRI Yearbook 2012, launched in June, by reporting on trends in major armed conflicts, as has been done annually since 1987. This year UCDP also contributed two thematic chapters, one focusing on the Arab spring and one on the Horn of Africa.

Ongoing projects

UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset (UCDP GED)

The first version of the UCDP GED, which contains a subset including the entirety of Africa, was released in December 2011. The UCDP GED Conflict Polygons Dataset was released a few months later, in March 2012. Currently, UCDP is working on producing the next subset; Asia. The data is scheduled for release next year.

An updated version of the GED dataset, UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset version 1.2, will be released in September.

Direct links

About UCDP Update Alert

A particular welcome to those of you who receive this for the first time. The UCDP Update Alert is sent out in order to better promote and inform the global community of scholars and practitioners about the products created and launched by the UCDP. The alert continuously informs its recipients of completed updates of the UCDP Database, launches of new datasets and the approximate dates of launches of forthcoming products.

Your e-mail has been added to this list since you have either been the recipient of our annual publication States in Armed Conflict, have used our data, have passed on your business card to us, or have expressed a wish to be added to the list.

For previous UCDP Update Alerts, please visit the UCDP News section.

Previous updates

Release of the UCDP GED Conflict Polygons Dataset

On 28 March, the UCDP released the UCDP GED Conflict Polygons Dataset, a dataset describing the spatial extent and geographical areas affected by armed conflict, non-state violence and one-sided violence. Covering Africa during the 1989-2010 period, the dataset provides access to data constructed both as yearly sets as well as aggregated sets for the entire period. The dataset is a derivative product of the GED (Georeferenced Event Dataset) project, being built in a fully standardized fashion, thus being fully compatible with all other UCDP products.

Based on fully disaggregated data available down to village level, the UCDP GED Polygons Dataset is unique in the sense of no longer treating or even using the country as the main unit of analysis. As such, the product fully reveals the regional, sub-national or trans-national extent of various forms of organized violence. Thus, it is hoped the UCDP GED Conflict Polygons will shed new light on armed conflict for both quantitative- and qualitative-oriented researchers.

The UCDP GED Conflict Polygons are available for download, free of charge, on the UCDP GED webpage(http://www.ucdp.uu.se/ged/), in a number of formats suitable for both analysis and visualisation (KML, ESRI Shapefile and CSV).

Release of UCDP GED films: Organized Violence in Africa 1989-2010

Since the release of the first version of the UCDP GED, which contains the entirety of Africa, in late 2011, three short films that depicts the extent of organized violence in Africa from 1989-2010, the LRA’s violence against civilians 1989-2010 as well as the UCDP GED Polygon dataset have been produced. The films are available on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/UCDPdata

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Update Alert No. 11 27 August, 2012