India, July 25 -- In the uneasy aftermath of a 12-day armed confrontation between Iran and Israel - marked by unprecedented military exchanges and US involvement - a fragile and unsustainable "ceasefire" continues to hang by a thread. Rather than restoring calm, it has added another layer to an already combustible global security landscape. The year 2024 proved to be one of the most violent in recent memory, with the highest number of armed conflicts since the Second World War. According to the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, 61 state-based conflicts erupted across 36 countries, affecting nearly one-fourth of the global population.

The violence has grown not only in scale but also in intensity. Fatalities from these conflicts surged by...