Modern Conflicts

The 21st century may be the most peaceful in history so far, but we are still not completely free from wars and conflicts. From 1980 to the present day, Modern Conflicts explores recent struggles between nations and peoples.

Genre: Documentary, War & Politics

Director: Joseph Pisenti

1Season 1

Season 1, Episode 1

March 24, 2021

There's a lot of messy and complicated borders in the world. But all of them pale in comparison to the world's most controversial border situation: the boundary between Israel and Palestine. In this video, I attempt to explain the whole situation with as little bias as possible. Thank you for watching

2Season 1

Season 1, Episode 2

April 29, 2021

For 6 weeks in 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war saw the use of advanced technology and modern tactics, the intervention of several foreign powers and ended with a decisive victory for Azerbaijan. This is how the war unfolded.

3Season 1

Season 1, Episode 3

May 27, 2021

For the past 7 years, the deadliest war in Europe of the 21st century century has been raging in Eastern Ukraine. The war has killed thousands, displaced millions, and brought economic devastation to both Ukraine and Russia. This is the war explained from beginning to end in under 30 minutes.

4Season 1

Season 1, Episode 4

June 25, 2021

For the past 14 years, Israel has maintained a complete land, air and sea blockade over the Gaza Strip and the 2 million Palestinians who live inside. This is the Israel-Gaza conflict explained.

5Season 1

Season 1, Episode 5

July 30, 2021

The modern war in Afghanistan didn't begin with the American and allied invasion of 2001. Its origins are significantly more complex and date back to the 1970's. This is the War in Afghanistan before the American part of the story.

6Season 1

Season 1, Episode 6

August 27, 2021

The conflict between North and South Korea has been raging for more than 7 decades now. The Korean War fought in the 1950's led to the deaths of millions and changed very little geopolitically. The most severe escalations in the conflict since then, have all happened in the 21st century. This is a full overview of the combat operations fought between North and South Korea since the year 2000.

7Season 1

Season 1, Episode 7

September 30, 2021

The United States and Iran have one of the most controversial, important and dangerous relationships in the world. The 2 nations have come dangerously close to war in the past on multiple occasions and in order to understand why, you've got to understand the history of American-Iranian relations. This video attempts to condense this enormous subject into a mere 23 minutes.

8Season 1

Season 1, Episode 8

November 29, 2021

Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq for nearly a quarter of a century and throughout that time, he initiated 2 enormous wars that resulted in the deaths of millions and brought together the largest international coalition ever formed since the Second World War against him. This is the story of how and why a single man led Iraq directly into the abyss at the end of the 20th century, and created the modern world in the process.

9Season 1

Season 1, Episode 9

December 21, 2021

Greece and Turkey have one of the world's most ancient and bitter geopolitical rivalries that stretches back nearly 1,000 years. The modern conflict between the two is familiar, but also quite different than it's been at any time before in the past.

1Season 2

Season 2, Episode 1

January 31, 2022

For 4 long years, the largest city in Syria was torn apart in one of the largest and most ferocious battles of the 21st century. This is the story of how and why Aleppo was so fiercely fought over between the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his allies on the one side, and various rebel factions and their allies on the other.

2Season 2

Season 2, Episode 2

February 26, 2022

In 2008, Russia initiated a full-scale invasion into Georgia in what became the first European war of the 21st century.

3Season 2

Season 2, Episode 3

March 30, 2022

Across the 1990's and early 2000's, the Republic of Chechnya attempted to secede from Russia and achieve independence.

4Season 2

Season 2, Episode 4

April 28, 2022

In 2003 the US and its allies invaded Iraq under the pretext of dismantling Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

5Season 2

Season 2, Episode 5

May 31, 2022

Russia’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War to assist Assad’s regime lead to a triumph in geopolitics for the Kremlin.

6Season 2

Season 2, Episode 6

June 30, 2022

The war fought between Moldova, the breakaway state of Transnistria, and Russia.

7Season 2

Season 2, Episode 7

July 29, 2022

Since 2017, China has been carrying out the largest genocide of the 21st century, targeting the Uyghur people East Turkestan.

8Season 2

Season 2, Episode 8

August 30, 2022

The longest war in American history was the one fought for nearly 20 years in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021.

9Season 2

Season 2, Episode 9

October 1, 2022

The first phase of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine from the February 24 when the Russians first attacked to the April 7, 2022.

10Season 2

Season 2, Episode 10

October 31, 2022

After failing to capture Kyiv the Russian army began to refocus everything on the eastern front and the battle for the Donbas.

11Season 2

Season 2, Episode 11

November 30, 2022

In 2014, Yemen descended into an initially two-sided civil war between the Shia-adjacent Houthis & the largely Sunni government.

12Season 2

Season 2, Episode 12

December 30, 2022

Libya was once among Africa's most prosperous nations until 2011 when the country descended into chaos and instability.

1Season 3

Season 3, Episode 1

February 24, 2023

How the Ukrainian Army decisively pushed back against the Russians at the end of 2022.

2Season 3

Season 3, Episode 2

March 24, 2023

Why the Tigray War in Ethiopia, which only ended in 2022, remains the 21st-century's deadliest conflict.

3Season 3

Season 3, Episode 3

April 25, 2023

What initially began as protests against the country's regime steadily morphed into a civil war lasting for more than a decade.

4Season 3

Season 3, Episode 4

June 9, 2023

How ISIS managed to quickly rise to the apex of their power across Iraq and Syria by 2015.

5Season 3

Season 3, Episode 5

July 14, 2023

How an unprecedented coalition of nations and organizations from all around the world destroyed ISIS between 2014 and 2019.

6Season 3

Season 3, Episode 6

August 18, 2023

How the fighting for control over the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut evolved into Europe's most catastrophic battle since WWII.

7Season 3

Season 3, Episode 7

September 22, 2023

The War between the Turkish government and the PKK from its origins in the 1980s into the present day.

8Season 3

Season 3, Episode 8

October 20, 2023

How Myanmar became Southeast Asia's only failed state.

9Season 3

Season 3, Episode 9

November 17, 2023

The history of the conflict between Israel and Gaza between 1987 and 2023.

10Season 3

Season 3, Episode 10

December 8, 2023

How the Lebanon Civil War produced Hezbollah.

1Season 4

Season 4, Episode 1

January 26, 2024

Throughout the 1990s a series of wars were waged across the Western Balkans as the former state of Yugoslavia collapsed.

2Season 4

Season 4, Episode 2

February 23, 2024

From 2003 through 2005, the first legally defined genocide of the 21st-century took place in the Darfur region of Sudan.

3Season 4

Season 4, Episode 3

March 22, 2024

The 2013 French military intervention into Mali, and the ensuing decade-long counterinsurgency operation.

4Season 4

Season 4, Episode 4

April 19, 2024

Analysis of the 2023 Ukraine counteroffensive and what went wrong for the Ukrainian side.

5Season 4

Season 4, Episode 5

May 17, 2024

In 2020 & 2021, thousands of Indian & Chinese troops engaged in fights along the disputed border in Jammu & Kashmir.

6Season 4

Season 4, Episode 6

June 21, 2024

How the Taliban shocked the world by re-conquering Afghanistan in only a matter of months over the summer of 2021.

7Season 4

Season 4, Episode 7

July 26, 2024

Al-Qaeda's evolving strategy fighting the US from the 1980's up until 9/11.

8Season 4

Season 4, Episode 8

August 23, 2024

America's Global War on Terror, and the manhunt for al-Qaeda's leadership.

9Season 4

Season 4, Episode 9

September 27, 2024

Hamas’s attack on October 7 and Israel’s intelligence failure in preventing it.

10Season 4

Season 4, Episode 10

October 25, 2024

The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the peace process, and questions in the present day.

11Season 4

Season 4, Episode 11

November 22, 2024

The origins of Rwanda’s ethnic conflict and the genocide that occurred from April to June 1994 and what followed afterwards.

12Season 4

Season 4, Episode 12

December 20, 2024

After unsuccessful attempts to break through Avdiivka’s powerful, fortress of defenses, Russia tried again in October of 2023.