This general expression covers confrontations between

  1. two or more States (See International armed conflict);
  2. a State and a body other than a State (See War of national liberation);
  3. a State and a dissident faction (See Non-international armed conflict);
  4. two or more organized armed groups within a State (See Non-international armed conflict).

See also International armed conflict; Non international armed conflict; National liberation wars; Application
 
For Armed conflict at sea, see: Naval warfare
For armed conflict in air, see: Air warfare

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 BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES

BALENDRA Natasha, “Defining Armed Conflict”, in Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 29, No. 6, 2008, pp. 2461-2516
 
DAHL Arne Willy & SANDBU Magnus, “The Threshold of Armed Conflict”, in Revue de droit militaire et de droit de la guerre, Vol. 3-4, No. 45, 2006, pp. 369-388
 
O’CONNELL Mary Ellen, Defining Armed Conflict”, in Journal of Conflict & Security Law, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2008, pp. 393-400
 
SCHINDLER Dietrich, “The Different Types of Armed Conflicts According to the Geneva Conventions and Protocols”, in Collected Courses, Vol. 163, 1979, pp. 153-156.
 
STEWART James G., “Towards a Single Definition of Armed Conflict in International Humanitarian Law: a Critique of Internationalized Armed Conflict”, in IRRC, No. 850, June 2003, pp. 313-349
 
VITE Sylvain, “Typology of Armed Conflicts in International Humanitarian Law: Legal Concepts and Actual Situations”, in IRRC, Vol. 91, No. 873, March 2009, pp. 69-94