The Human Security Centre has released it's updated report on the number of pending conflicts. They also report a time series of the number of conflicts over time (among other things). The data are interesting, although difficult for me to confirm at times.

Here's a time plot of the post-WWII period (the vertical line is at 1989 - the end of the Soviet Union)

It is interesting how the nature of war has changed. Is this the result of the credible threat of WMDs? Is world-wide bloodshed worse under a regime of MAD (mutually assured destruction)? Perhaps smaller conflicts are allowed to simmer because the bigger players are reluctant to get involved for fear of the bigger toys coming into play?