Click on a war

Why do conflicts last longer in some areas than in others? Is there a connection between war and poverty? You can now find the answers to such questions with the help of a computer software program. This software presents a cartographic visualization of armed conflicts in a completely new way, so that both temporal and spatial information can be read from them.

Associate Professor Jan Ketil Rød has developed a software program which allows you to handle historical knowledge in a more interactive way. The software is called ViewConflicts, and it has access to a database where all conflicts from the period 1946 to 2000 have been registered and systematized.

On the screen you see a map of the world, and there are several different functions to choose from. You can zoom in - first on a continent and then on a country. You can decide on which historical period and area of the world you want to concentrate. It is also possible to add indicators such as economic situation and natural resources.

By Tore Hugubakken