Forgotten Conflicts

Lilia Ana Ramos Martín

Sudan, Haiti, Tibet, Congo, Western Sahara, Somalia, Sri Lanka… These are just some of the countries where, currently, conflicts are being ignored or forgotten. Their names sound distant, probably as far as they are geographically. However, we know that for globalisation there is no geography and these, as other events, could be within reach of our “remote control” at any time of the day.

Now, why is this happening?

To begin with, most of the countries we have just mentioned were colonies of developed countries when the Second World War finished and most of them are what we call “Failed States”. They are characterised by: lack of institutions (or really weak institutions), authorities that do not provide security are not competent, absence of judicial system, substitution of law by violence, rise of an illegal economy that displaces the legal, poor education and health systems, etc.

What are the reasons that lead to this situation?

The common causes derive from the pre-colonial and colonial structures; the ethnic, religious or tribal diversity with dependent economies on the old metropolis; the policies of the IMF and the World Bank, which decreased the role of the State so as to implement the liberal economic system… But we should not forget that, on the other hand we have internal reasons such as militarization, corruption, low income or inequality when it comes to political power access or education.

This said, let us be honest, although what we have explained above constitutes the base of the issue, the key factor lays on the media. Media has an undeniable influence on society; people rely and trust the information they are provided with, although the news is usually distorted or selected in the base of certain political group’s interests. With this behaviour they ignore the conflicts and consequently prevent citizens from their acknowledgement. It is their task to commit themselves to give objective information, this being one of the most necessary solutions.

In this context many NGOs struggle to make a wake-up-call, but find many handicaps in their way such as violence, corruption and the lack of interest by the media we have already portrayed, which lately is more interested in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan… That is why most of these organisations claim that a multilateral view is needed, a close coordination with powerful institutions as the UN or the European Union: a compromise to work towards the establishment of solid states: democratic, stable and secure, not that much in the north systems’ image and likeness, but in their own way.

Despite the hard times we are living in, a problem like this one cannot and should not be put off; we shall not repeat the “lost decades” (80s and 90s). To achieve so, the first thing is to create awareness of when and where these conflicts are taking place (Media); to prevent the continuity of the failed States (multilateral commitment) by means of integrated policies and meanwhile, to provide sanitary and alimentary help locally, especially to refugees (NGOs).

the author: Lilia Ana Ramos Martín is an exchange student of the European Studies stream.

photography: Niko Papageorgiou is European Studies student and initiator of the IDEAS magazine.