Conflict has escalated in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) on a dizzying scale  since  the  2011  Arab  uprisings.  The  region  has  witnessed  conflicts between states, between states and non-state actors, and conflicts in which international actors play a major role. These conflicts are best seen as a form of the ‘new wars’ that emerged globally after the end of the Cold War, in which non-state  actors  are  increasingly  influential  and  civilians  are  affected  by conflict ever more directly and in multi-faceted ways. Most notably, terrorism has become the most significant cause of violence as a new generation of violent non-state actors has emerged. Conflicts that originated in particular parts of the region have spread to other parts, drawing in regional and international actors along the way. The power and security vacuums that emerged due to the chaos of war and weak state institutions, especially in the fields of security and the rule of law, have been filled with increasing numbers of  local,  national,  regional  and  international  actors.  Nowhere  is  this  more evident  than  in  the  transformation  of  the  Syrian  war  into  something  more  akin to an international proxy war; although the current conflicts in Libya, Yemen and Iraq also display these hallmarks. The net effect is a heightening of local tension and conflict between actors and a rendering of the resolution of the conflict  even  more  complicated.