- Current political flashpoints
- Historical political flashpoints
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}In international relations, a flashpoint is an area or dispute that has a strong possibility of developing into a war. The original definition of flash point refers to the igniting of a volatile material at the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air. Current political flashpoints- The Taiwan straits between People's Republic of China and Republic of China
- The Senkaku Islands between People's Republic of China and Japan
- Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea
- The Golan heights between Syria and Israel
- Israeli-Lebanon border between Lebanon and Israel
- Kashmir between India and Pakistan
- The Spratly Islands see Spratly Islands dispute
- Imia/Kardak - Aegean dispute
- The Shatt al-Arab between Iraq and Iran
- Possible second Falklands War (see Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute)
- Gaza Strip between Hamas and Israel
- Escalation of the Somali Civil War
- Abyei between North and South Sudan
- Escalation of the Syrian Civil War and Iraqi insurgency (2011–present) into a larger conflict. (See 2014 military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant)
- Post-Soviet frozen conflicts (i.e. South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh)
- Possible re-escalation of the War in Donbass (see pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine)
Historical political flashpoints- The Balkans
- Bosnia
- Berlin (see Cold War)
- Free City of Danzig
- Sudetenland
- The Rio Grande valley
- Alsace-Lorraine (France Germany border)
- Soviet Union–United States relations (see Cold War)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flashpoint (Politics)}}{{Poli-term-stub}} 1 : International relations |