Middle East Conflict Event Map
An interactive geospatial dashboard for exploring conflict events across the Middle East using the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) Georeferenced Event Dataset (GED).
This project demonstrates a lightweight workflow for transforming structured conflict event data into a browser-based map that allows users to explore actors, fatalities, locations, and source reporting.
The goal of the project was to build a simple but transparent OSINT-style visualization pipeline that converts raw event data into an interactive analytical tool.
Overview
The map displays documented conflict events and allows users to:
• Explore conflict events geographically • Identify actors involved in incidents • See estimated fatalities for each event • View reported locations and source citations • Navigate clusters of events across the region
Events are displayed using clustered markers to maintain performance and readability.
Data Source
This project uses the Georeferenced Event Dataset (GED) from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program.
The dataset provides structured information about organized violence events worldwide including:
Event date
Actors involved
Fatality estimates
Geographic coordinates
Source reporting references
Dataset download:
Data Processing Workflow
The project uses a small data pipeline to convert the raw dataset into a format suitable for web visualization.
UCDP GED dataset (CSV) ↓ LibreOffice filtering and cleanup ↓ Python conversion script ↓ JSON event dataset ↓ Leaflet map visualization
The Python script converts the cleaned dataset into a JSON file that is loaded directly by the map.
Project Structure Middle-East-Map │ ├── index.html Map layout ├── style.css Map styling ├── script.js Map logic and clustering │ ├── convert_events.py CSV → JSON data pipeline ├── conflict_events.csv Filtered event dataset ├── events.json Map-ready dataset Map Features
Interactive event markers showing:
Actor A vs Actor B
Fatality estimates
Event date
Location description
Source organization
Source headline
Markers are color coded based on event severity and clustered to maintain map performance.
Technologies Used
Programming
Python
JavaScript
HTML5
CSS
Geospatial
Leaflet.js
Leaflet MarkerCluster
OpenStreetMap tiles
Data Processing
CSV data transformation
JSON geospatial datasets
Development Environment
Visual Studio Code
PowerShell
Node.js (local server)
Running the Project
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/middle-east-map.git
Navigate to the project directory:
cd middle-east-map
Run a local server:
npx serve .
Open in browser:
http://localhost:3000 Updating the Dataset
To update the map with new events:
Download the latest GED dataset
Filter the dataset for the region and time period of interest
Export the cleaned dataset as conflict_events.csv
Run the conversion script:
python convert_events.py
This will generate an updated events.json file used by the map.
Future Improvements
Possible enhancements include:
Timeline filtering
Conflict intensity heatmaps
Actor filtering
Event type categorization
Integration with near-real-time datasets such as ACLED or GDELT
Purpose
This project was created as a practical exercise in:
OSINT data workflows
Geospatial visualization
Conflict event analysis
Lightweight analytical dashboards
It is intended as a prototype demonstrating how publicly available datasets can be used to build transparent and reproducible monitoring tools.