Forgotten Wars – What the Media Fails to Report
The global media landscape of late has undoubtedly been preoccupied with two clear focal
points; Russia’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine and Israel’s asymmetric campaign in Gaza.
Ukraine’s media attention and overall significance hinges on the fact that it is a large-scale
conventional war being conducted on the peripheries of Europe. The brutality of the IDF’s
operations against a largely civilian population in Gaza combines with broader regional
implications and international outrage to simultaneously occupy large swathes of global
media output.
A cursory glance at mainstream news might suggest that Gaza and Ukraine are the only
places in the world that are in the midst of a protracted, brutal conflict. However, deeper
inspection of the shadowy corners of the internet and a selection of news outlets will reveal
that the world is riddled with conflicts of a comparable nature and level of violence. Whilst it
would be wrong to claim that these events are not being reported on, it is clear that these
issues occupy a lower portion of the mainstream news agenda and consequently, the global
policy agenda.
Myanmar 2021-present
In Myanmar, the fallout of military coup in 2021 has led to growth of a protracted civil war
that has been marked by mass killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, and other
abuses that ‘amount to crimes againsts humanity’, say the human rights watch. The military
junta has engaged in ethnic cleansing of local minorities and has been found to employ
‘scorched earth tactics’ which involves the burning of villages in the Magway and Sagaing
regions. an estimated 50,000 people have died since 2021, including 8,000 civilians,
numbers comparable to the death toll in Ukraine.
Sudan 2023-present
A ferocious civil war is underway in the north-east African country of Sudan, where
government forces are clashing with an independent military body, ‘the Rapid Support
Forces’ (RSF) following the buildup of tensions within the military. The use of high-explosive
weapons in populated areas has left the country facing a shortage of critical infrastructure,
and the death of civilians. 5.4 million people have been forcibly displaced and almost 10-
15,000 people have been killed.
Yemen 2022-present
Saudi and the UAE’s joint military coalition has been conducting military operations against
Houthi rebels that has further exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The
coalition has been accused of indiscriminately killing Yemeni civilians in their attempts to
destroy Houthi targets, destroying health care facilities, schools and bridges in the process.
More than 4 million people have been internally displaced due to food insecurity and over
233,000 people have died according to the UN.
These examples represent just some of the on-going conflicts that have resulted in large-
scale civilian death tolls. However, this list is not exhaustive, there are conflicts raging in
Ethiopia, the Congo and Syria and there is the potential for a globally devastating conflict in
Taiwan. The Global peace index reports that ‘the average level of global peacefulness
deteriorated for the ninth consecutive year’ in 2023 illustrating a downward trend towards an
increasingly violent and unstable world. Whilst the devastation in Ukraine and Gaza should
not be understated, mainstream media must play their part in informing, communicating and
educating global audiences of the true scale of global conflict.