After invading Kuwait, Iraq was hit by international anger and Operation Desert Storm.

When Yugoslavia broke up in 1992 a fight for nationalism and cultural identity led to war.

When new Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, Britain and France were outraged. The two European powerhouses had been running this lucrative waterway for decades and were reluctant to give it up without a fight. In a clandestine plot, Britain and France planned an invasion to take back control of the canal. But once the UN intervened, they left empty handed.

In 1948 a state of emergency was declared in Malaya after a communist insurgency began.

After North Korean forces invaded the South, a battle for cold war supremacy broke out.

When British rulers implemented harsh reforms in Kenya, the Mau Mau uprising was born.