The violence and chaos inside Syria, where Islamic State terrorists and other rebel groups control large portions of the country, is so dire that millions of people have fled and the U.N. has stopped trying to keep count of the dead. Yet Syria is just one of many places across the globe where warlords, separatists, drug cartels, or terror groups have seized territory within a sovereign nation, leaving the government with little or no power—-and the people to fend for themselves.

Syria, Iraq, and the Islamic State

Protests that erupted during the Arab Spring of 2011 escalated into full-scale civil war as rebels took up arms against the rule of Bashar al-Assad. The Assad regime maintains control over Damascus and other areas in the west of the country, while rebels and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants occupy their own territories farther east. Extreme violence is prevalent throughout the country. In Iraq, the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 triggered a civil war and insurgency against coalition forces. Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in December 2011, violence continued and worsened with the emergence of ISIS in 2014.