If you read only one thing about wars

Wars are down and civil strife is up: Strategy Page dispassionately summarizes the whole world and one-by-one its hot spots.

Calling any incident, with a lot of gunfire and a few dead bodies, a "war" has been misleading. The fact is, worldwide violence has been declining since the end of the Cold War (1991). Uprisings are mostly about corruption and the resulting massive poverty. The current wars are basically uprisings against police states or feudal societies, which are seen as out-of-step with the modern world. Many are led by radicals preaching failed dogmas (Islamic conservatism, Maoism and other forms of radical socialism), that still resonate among people who don't know about the dismal track records of these creeds. Iran has picked up some of the lost Soviet terrorist support effort. Islamic radicalism itself is incapable of mustering much military power.  (Past periods of conquest are regarded fondly by Moslems).

Excerpted from the source at Strategy Page.