The year 2009 was an improvement as far as global wars were concerned, according to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research. The institute’s annual conflict analysis found there were a total of 365 political trouble spots in 2009, including seven wars and 24 “severe crises.” Even though total conflicts were up from 2008, which had 353, the number of “highly violent conflicts” went down from nine wars and 30 severe crises. The conflicts that Heidelberg officials considered a “war” in 2009 were in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Israel (Hamas/Palestine), Yemen and Pakistan, which was counted twice—one for its fight against the Taliban and another against various Islamist militants. The fighting in Iraq was labeled a severe crisis rather than a war.