Editorial

摘要

This issue starts with on a sad note with an obituary for one of our longstanding and influential board members Liz Willis - we will miss her greatly. In the debates as to whether the world is becoming more or less peaceful, what should qualify as a war or an armed conflict and who should qualify as a combatant, some trends seem clear: 'civil' wars are increasingly internationalized and this is one factor making them deadlier and longer, and - probably but not necessarily related - the conflict relapse rate has increased (Einsiedel 2014).