I’m a
humanitarian worker and I’ve been working on protracted conflict for the last
13 years. A protracted conflict is generally defined as a long-term, low
intensity conflict. It is not all out war, also known as violent conflict, although
it is considered a pre-condition for it.
Colombia, Somalia and Israel are often viewed as textbook examples of
protracted conflicts.
The
concept stems from a theory initially developed by Edward E Azar who described Protracted
social conflict as conflicts that occur, “when communities are deprived of (the)
satisfaction of their basic needs on the basis of the communal identity.” Azar
continues by highlighting that “the deprivation is the result of a complex
causal chain involving the role of the state and the pattern of international
linkages. Furthermore, initial conditions (colonial legacy, domestic historical
setting, and the multi-communal nature of the society) play important roles in
shaping the genesis of protracted social conflict.”[1]
In
2002 I moved to Colombia to work with a UN agency. One of the first things that
struck me was the general sense of normalcy in a country that from the outside
was perceived as highly dangerous. On arrival most of my colleagues were quick
to highlight that soon I would see how things were not as bad as the
international media portrayed them, followed by advice such as: “don't take a
cab from the street, or you might end up in the bush being sold to the
guerrilla”. With nearly three thousand kidnappings and nearly 70 homicides per
100,000 a year and at the time[2],
this advice was not to be taken lightly. People go about their daily lives accepting
the status quo as normal.
The Life Peace Institute on its issue on
protracted conflict asked “Can you get used to living with war?” Sadly, I quickly learned
that the answer to this question is yes.
The article continues “Probably, in the same way that you can somehow get used
to living with physical pain, with constant stress, with disturbing noises. You
get used to it, you bear with it in silence, because you have no other choice.
You don’t know of any alternative.[3]”
One of my first “field missions” in Colombia was to visit IDPs, aka, internally
displaced persons. Displaced by the conflict. There was a small group of wooden
houses that particular stuck out to me. Having run out of available land, these
houses were built on man-made islands of rubbish over swamplands and connected
by planks of wood. What most people don't realize is that many of the IDPs in
Colombia come from some of the most fertile regions. For the most part they
were, previous to the displacement, farmers who owned land and animals, now
reduced to living in planks of wood.
The full obscenity of this only hit me
back at the hotel, going over my pictures, and partly this was because while I
was there the children were playing and laughing, the ‘homes’, while bare, proudly
showcased photographs and other valued mementos on their walls. Everyone went
about their business, as if living on fake rubbish islands was normal. Which brings me to my second realization at
the time: not only can a person get used to living with war, it is surprisingly
easy for the surrounding world to get used to it and protracted conflict, where
there are no massive explosions and massacres to show for it, are particularly
easy to get used to. What once seemed unthinkable becomes normal. I once
counted over 50 soldiers standing on the sides of the road on my thirty minute
ride from home to the office. Move on people, nothing to see here.
Humans adjust. It is for this reason that protracted conflicts easily
become the forgotten wars. Unless there are international interests involved,
such as is the case of Israel or Colombia, these conflicts become the backdrop hardly
ever making headlines. The Western Sahara conflict comes to mind.
Since
I had kids I’ve tried to stay out of trouble spots. The fact that aidwork is no
longer perceived as neutral has made working in these “hot spots” more complex
and ultimately dangerous. So it was with
much surprise that I realised, watching the 8 o’clock news on my sofa, that I
am –once again, and without my knowledge- living in a protracted conflict
country.
You
might wonder how this could happen. How can you not-know that you are living in
a conflict. And while you do that, you are probably reviewing in your mind
mental pictures of the news that you have seen. All I can tell you is what I
was seeing: recent footage from Baltimore, which until last week was nicknamed
(by me) yawn city.
[1] Azar, E., The Management of Protracted Social Conflict: Theory & Cases,
Aldershot, Dartmouth, 1990 p12.
[2]
http://www.bigtravelweb.com/travel/2008/10/27/kidnapping-statistics-mexico-brazil-ecuador-venezuela-more-prone-than-colombia/
[3]Life and Peace Institute, April 2010, New Routes Volume 15 http://www.life-peace.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/nr_2011_03.pdf