# When was the last war fought between actual nations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974 "2015-11-19T13:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/21 "2015-11-20T13:16:32Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > One reason is that its impossible for the war to end, who can South Korea make a peace treaty with, as to them, North Korea is not a country with which to make a peace treaty… Its perfectly possible for them to mutually recognise each other and then sign a peace treaty. In fact thats actually what North Korea has proposed several times saying “hey theres no need for the US to keep all those troops over there, they are the ones causing the problem not us!”… eg see here: [http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/22/north-korean-peace-agreement-proposal/](http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/22/north-korean-peace-agreement-proposal/) of course their peace proposal involves them keeping nuclear weapons amongst other things. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/22 "2015-11-20T15:04:39Z")
I think, to be meaningful, the question would need to be limited to nations which had historically recognized each other’s sovereignty and borders over the relevant territory prior to the hostilities, and involving the regular armed forces under the control and command of the central governments of the two states… And “war” would need to be defined as ongoing hostilities in which every asset of the adversaries is regarded as a tactical target. That still leaves a gray area, but it would not be a proper “war” if the two sides are just glaring at each other and the incidents are limited to a few skirmishes between undisciplined troops or an occasional inadvertent overflight. Technically, quite a few countries are at war with their neighbors, like Chile/Bolivia, to this day, since old peace treaties have been annulled… ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/23 "2015-11-20T15:25:45Z")
The First Congo War (96-97) was a pretty straightforward “Country A (Zaire) invades Country B (Rwanda) and they fight about it for a while” war. The subsequent longer and bloodier Second Congo War was technically a civil war, but unique in that there were national armies from multiple countries fighting on each side, which has lead to some people calling it “the World War of Africa.” ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/24 "2015-11-21T10:23:42Z")
Sounds like Russia v Ukraine is the winner. I predict Venezuela v Colombia could be next: > **[Explainer: The Colombia-Venezuela Border Conflict](https://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-colombia-venezuela-border-conflict)** > > The conflict is shutting down commerce along a border longer than the one between Texas and Mexico. A little scary, btw, as Venezuela would most likely be backed by the Russian and Iranian baddies, and Colombia most likely by us. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/25 "2015-11-21T15:57:17Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Sounds like Russia v Ukraine is the winner. I don’t think Ukraine counts. The troops in question were not openly wearing the uniforms of Russia or acknowledged to be under the command of the Russian military hierarchy. If we count covert operations then US vs Syria right now is the winner. US special forces are certainly operating against the Assad government at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/26 "2015-11-21T17:45:57Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > North Korea an South Korea are still at war. They are not nations. Both the Koreas claim the be the legitimate government of all of the Korean peninsula. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974/27 "2015-11-21T18:16:39Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They are not nations. Both the Koreas claim the be the legitimate government of all of the Korean peninsula. They are both separately UN members and widely recognized by other countries, which is a pretty reasonable definition of being nations. A number of nations claim sovereignty over another nation’s territory. I wouldn’t count this, however, since although a state of war exists and there are occasional hostilities it’s not really an active war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-war-fought-between-actual-nations/737974.md?page=1)