hot wars
Active armed conflicts
Hot wars are armed conflicts with active military combat, as opposed to cold wars fought through economic pressure, espionage, and proxy conflicts.
The term gained currency during the Cold War era to distinguish actual shooting wars from the ideological standoff between superpowers: The Cold War never became a hot war between the US and Soviet Union.
- combatArmed hostile engagement
- skirmishBrief, limited combat
- battlefieldCombat engagement area
- no man's landUnowned space between enemies
- front linesActive battle area
clash · offensive · siege · frontline · boots on the ground · troop deployment · ground offensive · engagement · civilian casualties · military · smoke · screams · collateral damage · blood · refugee crises · wounds · conflict · air strikes
hot warscold war
Hostility without open fighting
war of words · saber-rattling · détente · proxy wars · covert operations
hot, hots, hotly, hottest, hotter, hotness, war, wars, warring