Five looming global flashpoints

China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran pose enduring challenges to international peace. But five other possible flashpoints loom.

1) India-Pakistan in/over Kashmir

Claimed by Pakistan, India’s Jammu and Kashmir province has long been a center for terrorist activity. In early 2019, a major attack on Indian security forces threatened to provoke a war. Considering India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed powers sharing a sectarian and theological hatred for one another, the stakes of what happens in Kashmir reach far beyond the province’s borders.