Peace used to have a rhythm. Conflicts rose, outside pressure built, negotiations followed, and deals—imperfect but useful—were signed. That rhythm is gone.
According to the GPA’s 2025 Peace Index, the world is now producing the fewest peace agreements in a quarter century . Only 43 agreements were signed in 2024. None were comprehensive. None resolved an interstate or intrastate war. For the second straight year, the global system failed to deliver a single full-scale peace deal.
This is not a statistical dip. It is a structural break.
The Negotiation Table Is Empty
Between 2020 and 2024, the world produced just 210 peace agreements, the lowest four-year total in 25 years .
Once you zoom out, a clear pattern emerges:
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Conflicts are lasting longer.
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Diplomatic pressure is weaker.
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Armed actors are more fragmented.
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International mediators are politically divided or paralyzed.
Take the UN Security Council. The index points out that the UNSC failed to meaningfully address Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, three of the most devastating conflicts on the planet . When the world’s primary peace authority cannot act, negotiations freeze everywhere else.
Why Peace Deals Are Drying Up
1. Great-power politics now block more than they enable
During the Cold War, big powers backed talks because stalemates were dangerous. Today they back wars. Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, the Sahel, the Caucasus—many conflicts now sit inside a web of geopolitical rivalry rather than diplomatic incentives.
When the major powers cannot agree, local actors have no reason to compromise.
2. Conflicts no longer have two clear sides
Sudan has dozens of armed groups. Myanmar has even more. Yemen has splits within splits. Colombia’s situation, despite progress, still involves dissident factions and splinter groups.
Fragmentation kills negotiations. You cannot sign a peace agreement if you cannot even list all the actors fighting.
3. Cyber warfare makes de-escalation harder
The GPA index gives cyber threats a dedicated place in its peace scoring model. That is rare.
Nation-states launched 430+ major cyberattacks in 2024, a 300 percent increase over the previous year. Digital reconnaissance now enables real-world strikes. That makes conflict more volatile, faster-moving, and harder to pause long enough for talks − especially when cyber operations continue even during ceasefires.
A peace agreement is fragile. A well-timed cyber intrusion can break it before it forms.
4. Climate disasters push societies past negotiation
When people are dealing with drought, food insecurity, or mass displacement, political elites have fewer incentives to negotiate and fewer resources to implement agreements even if they want to. The index shows climate-linked displacement is rising sharply and shaping violence patterns.
If a society is barely holding itself together, it is unlikely to produce negotiators who can hold a deal together.
The Result: A World at an Inflection Point
The report frames 2025 as a historic turning point. More conflicts. More displacement. More cyber threats. More militarization. Fewer peace deals than any time in 25 years.
This is the part we rarely acknowledge:
When peace agreements disappear, wars become “forever wars” by default.
Not All News Is Bad
Even in this bleak landscape, some countries are pulling peace back from the brink.
Colombia, Uzbekistan, Angola, Armenia, and others have shown that diplomacy can still work when political will and external support align.
The lesson is clear:
Peace is possible. It is just not automatic.
What This Means Going Forward
If we want more peace, we need more than strong statements. We need working institutions, credible mediators, pressure on spoilers, and investment in local peacebuilding, not just high-level summits.
If we keep waiting for conflicts to burn themselves out, we will be waiting for decades.
Read the Full Report
This article only scratches the surface. The GPA Peace Index 2025 breaks down global, regional, and thematic patterns with a level of clarity that’s hard to find elsewhere.
You can read the full report here:
👉 https://shorturl.at/xYhpB
It is worth your time.