Before revision:  By systematically clustering spatiotemporally proximate events into conflict avalanches , we show that the number of conflict reports, fatalities, duration, and geographic extent satisfy consistent power law scaling relations . The temporal evolution of conflicts measured by these scaling variables display emergent symmetry, collapsing onto a universal dynamical profile over a range of scales. The measured exponents and dynamical profiles describe a system distinct from prevailing explanations of conflict growth such as forest fire models. Our findings suggest that armed conflicts are dominated by a low-dimensional process that scales with physical dimensions in a surprisingly unified and predictable way .
After revision:  By systematically clustering spatiotemporally proximate events into conflict avalanches . Conflict profiles collapse over a range of scales. Duration, diameter, extent, fatalities, and report totals satisfy mutually consistent scaling relations captured with a model combining geographic spread and local conflict-site growth. The emergence of such social scaling laws hints at principles guiding conflict evolution .