Armed conflicts

“In an international context, growing ever more dramatic, the war in Ukraine runs the risk of becoming a ‘forgotten’ war. Nevertheless, it is our duty not to allow it to fall into silence, not simply to maintain alive horror in dealing with such a tragic event, but rather, above all, to involve all of those responsible and the international community in the search for peaceful solutions.”

Pope Francis, January 3, 2024

At the current time, the world is facing an unprecedented nuclear threat, a situation of the greatest tension since the Second World War. Nuclear weapons, together with the climate crisis, are two connected realities which influence each other and which constitute an existential threat to life and the planet, as has been evidenced by a plethora of research. In the face of this threat, it is urgent to unite efforts to affirm the effective application of the treaties and make nuclear deterrence a thing of the past.

Indifference to the suffering of others has become an attitude considered normal in today’s complacent societies. Just look away, and anesthetize yourself with compulsive consumption of experiences, objects, and Netflix series. Just pass by without seeing or stopping. This attitude is simply the reverse side of a system that keeps accelerating our lives, making them ever more precarious. There is no time or space for disruptions, for pausing and bending down to accompany and alleviate the suffering of others. Nor are we allowed to stand up straight and raise our voices against the causes of the suffering.

Visualizing “forgotten conflicts” is framed in the attempt by changing the focus and shifting it to situations that lack immediacy and that need to be visualized so that they do not fall into oblivion. In these pages that follow, you will find five extensive articles that review the causes, the development and possible future events in five countries in conflict. We are speaking about Honduras, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Western Sahara and Myanmar. And we do so with the help of authors who know the realities of these countries well because they were born there, have lived there or have worked there for some time on cooperation projects.  

These days we are witnessing a new outbreak of the extremely unequal war between Gaza and Israel, where military victory is assured in advance. This conflict will not cause refugees because, unlike other people, Gaza's civilian population has nowhere to go. Israel's total control of Gaza’s borders, combined with Egypt's determination not to become another Lebanon by receiving Palestinians, makes this region a prison for its inhabitants.

On the 10th and 11th April, a spiritual retreat took place at the Casa Santa Marta, (in the Vatican), with the leaders of South Sudan, Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, the most prominent figures in the South Sudanese conflict. The retreat ended with the presence of Pope Francis, who called for peace, but in such a special way that the whole world took notice: he got down on his knees and kissed the feet of the leaders responsible for the conflict, one by one, and without exception. In this Paper, we will be looking at the various meanings of this gesture, at the same time explaining that in order to understand its meaning, it is necessary to view it through the deep-seated Christian tradition of non-violence.

Islam is at war, but as opposed to what one might think, it is not at war with the West but rather, it is at war with itself. We are talking about a real civil war, a great division or fitnah, and one which is very complex. The jihadi attacks which Europe is experiencing at the moment, instead of just being about a clash of cultures, represent the importation of an internal Islamic conflict which is affecting us through the population that has come from countries with a Muslim majority, and from the political interference of the West on the international scene.