While I certainly understand the constant focus on Iraq (and to a lesser extent, Afghanistan), many other parts of the world are burning.
Does anyone care? I do. And I hope you do too.
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war
-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Here is my brief summary:
Asia
China - I'm sure you know quite well about the 50 plus year military occupation of Tibet. But it is China's far western Xinjiang Province that concerns me the most.
The population there is rapidly increasing, with imported Han labor pushing out and repressing the native Uighur people, who happen to be Muslim. And some of them are quite angry about it.
Xinjiang is where most of China's oil reserves are, as well as lot of their coal. It's also on the border with gas/oil giant Kazakhstan, where a new oil pipeline between the two countries is now operational.
Why should you care?
The Uighurs are not happy. Some consider Xinjiang to be part of a larger territory that belongs to them which they call East Turkistan.
The U.S. has already kowtowed to Beijing and labeled the East Turkistan movement a terrorist organization. Uighurs have been increasingly drawn towards conflicts in the rest of the world too, showing up in Uzbekistan, Chechnya and even Aghanistan (not to mention Guantanamo Bay).
Balochistan - There is the civil war you probably know about, with Pak gov't forces fighting tribals in NWFP (including Waziristan), where the Pashtun/Taliban hideouts are. It's also where the U.S. fires off a few cross-border missiles and Predator drone raids from Afghanistan.
The war you probably don't know about is ongoing in Balochistan. There is a bombing or attack almost every single day in this region. There are several officially labeled terrorist organizations here, especially the Balochistan Liberation Army.
Why should you care?
This is now Ground Zero for the "Big Game", where world powers compete to divvy up the planet for their own gain. To simplify things extremely, China and Pakistan are working overtime to extract gas and other nat'l resources from Balochistan as well as finish building the deepwater port at Gwadar, which will (partially) short-circuit the need to ship crude out of the Persian Gulf.
On the other side, India and the U.S. are leveraging the Baloch people to control Afghanistan and de-stabilize eastern Iran, where there are many Balochs. If Iran can be "flipped", pipelines out of Iran to India (via Balochistan) will short-circuit Russia's dominance of the Caspian Sea megafields of oil and gas.
Nepal - There once was a king, who had absolute powers but allowed a parliament to be formed. Although many of the parties were Communist, the system ran more or less democratically.
Then one day the king's son went berserk and massacred his entire family, including himself. His uncle became king and in February 2004 "fired" the entire government, mainly because they couldn't stop a Maoist insurgency. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse. The rebels are winning despite overwhelming gov't firepower and the civilians demanding democracy protest daily in the streets. A major bloodbath soon is a real possibility.
Why should you care?
As bad as the Maoists are, they're more democratic than the King, that's for sure. But for every Nepalese Maoist there are 100 in India, and while they all still run partly on ideological fuel, their man goal is the establishment of a hardline one-party state, not democracy.
The more the King keeps cracking down on the innocent, the better the Maoists look. And if they sweep to absolute power, that's going to fan the flames in India, which is why New Delhi is pumping guns into the Nepalese Royal Army's hands as fast as they can.
India - Forget Kashmir for a moment, in states like Chhattisgarh, Maoist (called Naxalites sometimes) movements are widespread and they mean business.
Naxalites killed more people in a single day than the 7/7/05 London bombings when they blew up a bus last year, but it got almost no international attention. They hijacked a train last month just to show off their powers. And they regularly raid police barracks to steal weapons, plus the usual terrorist activities of blackmailing villagers for money and food.
There is also a large Naxalite movement in the state of Tamil Nadu, home to the ethnic Tamil people (see Sri Lanka below).
As if that weren't enough, there are many other unaffiliated rebel/terrorist groups fighting for greater autonomy/outright indepedence, especially in Bihar, Assam State and the rest of the "Seven Sisters" (map here).
Why should you care?
India has over 1 billion people but is not the peaceful, homogenous melting pot people sometimes think it is. Fighting in the 7 Sisters regularly spills over into the borders of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar (Burma). Kashmir remains a flash point and a proxy war with Pakistan. A fragmented India would destabilize the entire subcontinent.
Sri Lanka - The two year old shaky ceasefire is on the verge of being destroyed after several attacks in the past week. Ethnic Tamils have been fighting the majority Sinhalese for decades for complete independence in the northeast, where the LTTE (Tigers) already control large portions of territory.
The LTTE are being financed by ethnic Tamils in the diaspora, most definitely including those in Tamil Nadu State in India.
Why should you care?
Fighting disrupts the stability of southern India. Last time India tried to intervene, their Prime Minister was assassinated. The LTTE are the world's premiere terrorists, perfecting the art of suicide bombing amongst other things, teaching other groups around the world by example. The LTTE also are the world's foremost elite at maritime attacks. You know about the USS Cole, but what you may not know is that a maritime assault on the Malacca Straits or the Suez Canal could cripple the planet's economy.
Thailand - For the last two years, the Bangkok government has been fighting a vicious but relatively low-level war against Muslim insurgents in the three southernmost provinces (seen on map).
While most of Thailand is inhabited by Buddhist people who are ethnic Thai, the three southernmost provinces are inhabited by Muslim people whose ethnicity is the same of the people in northern Malaysia, across the border. This area was captured by the Thai kingdom a hundred years ago and there have been periodic insurgencies ever since.
Bangkok's method of "handling" this has mostly been the imposition of martial law, vicious and brutal crackdowns, and even some mass executions. The more heavy-handed the response, the more the locals support the insurgents.
Why should you care?
Muslims fighting a guerilla war, learning and perfecting the technique of homemade bombs, assassination of local leaders, and intimidation of those who collaborate with the government. Always a recipe for disaster.
Indonesia - The good news is that a recent peace deal in Aceh looks to be working. The bad news is that fighting continues in Papua.
At stake is a decades-long independence movement. Indonesia may seem like a heterogenous country but is the consolidation of formerly independent states, much of it done at the barrel of a gun. The fighting has intensified recently due to demands of greater revenue sharing from the absolutely mindboggling large Freeport gold mine.
Elsewhere, radical Islamic terrorists are seeking to create a pan-Islamic state in the region, including parts of the Philippines. The largest and best well known of these groups is Jema'ah Islamiyah, which has been tied to Al-Qaeda. The more the army and police crack down, the angrier the insurgents get and the more addicted the government becomes to human rights abuses.
Why should you care?
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country. It also has significant oil, gas and other resources, including gold. Yet it is fighting separatist movements with one hand and Muslim extremists with the other. With a rapidly expanding Javanese population, the smaller groups are getting pushed out and radicalized.
A large quantity of the world's shipping goes through the Malacca Strait (on map). A well-coordinated maritime attack could cripple the world's economy.
Philippines - The government has been battling two very large separatist groups for decades - the New People's Army (Communist) and the MILF. The good news is that there's a ceasefire right now with the MILF and peace talks. The bad news is the NPA continues to fight.
The NPA and MILF are two of the largest insurgency/terrorist groups in the world, in terms of numbers of armed members. Estimates are about 20,000 armed fighters, which is about the same number of American/coalition troops in Afghanistan, to give you a comparison.
A third group, Abu Sayyaf, is much more vicious and is officially a terrorist organization. They have links to Al-Qaeda. All three operate predominantly in the Mindanao/Sulu region, home to most of the Philippines' Muslim population. Abu Sayyaf's stated goal is to create a theocratic state in the region, includings parts of Indonesia.
Why should you care?
The first time the American military fought Muslim separatists was in Mindanao/Sulu, just over 100 years ago. In fact, there are American troops there right now, potentially in harm's way. A bomb went off near the place where the Americans were holding a joint exercise with gov't troops in Jolo last month, although thankfully no one was hurt. There's no better propaganda in Abu Sayyaf's playbook than killing an American soldier.
It must be remembered that one of Al-Qaeda's earlier attempts to use airplanes as bombs was launched out of the Philippines, known as the "Bojinka Plot".
Asia Minor
North Caucuses - It's far more than just Chechnya. The fighting between rebels/insurgents/terrorists and law enforcement has expanded to North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and even Stavropol.
You may not be familiar with the names of these oblasts or republics in Russia but they have varying degrees of native Muslim populations. For every terrorist/rebel, there are 100 people supporting them, sheltering them and arming them. It's not just "Muslim versus Christian", it's also a war to (re)establish greater autonomy or full sovereignty from a hundred plus years of colonialization. Just because Russia conquered these lands 100 or 150 years ago doesn't mean it's ok by everybody for that to continue indefinitely.
These are the poorest regions of Russia, with as much as 70% of the income coming directly from federal aid. Not that most people see any of it, as it goes into the pockets of extremely corrupt politicians and their clans, rife with nepotism. Smuggling and trafficking pays the rent for most everyone else. As many as tens of thousands of people have been kidnapped and/or executed by death squads on both sides.
Why should you care?
The entire region is being destabilized, including across the border with the Republic of Georgia. And as we learned from Afghanistan in the 1980's, the guerillas who survive this war will return home with battle-tested skills.
A large part of Russia's oil refineries are in this region, especially in Chechnya. A very significant portion of their oil pipelines is here as well. And we all know any major damage to oil infrastructure affects prices for the entire world. Russia is currently the second largest oil exported in the world.
Turkey - There is a war going on in southeastern Turkey, where the majority of the population is ethnic Kurd. The gov't is fighting a well-trained insurgency, formerly the PKK now known as Kongra-GEL.
Over the past six months, Kurdish terrorists have started targeting tourist areas in western Turkey as well as hitting Istanbul, taking the fight out of the southeastern region.
Why should you care?
There are ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq, Syria and Iran, all of which contribute in some way to the fighting going on in Turkey. Turkey already believes PKK/GEL rebels are staging out of Iraq and have threatened numerous times to invade, especially if Iraq's Kurds declare independence or a simulacrum thereof.
Nagorno-Karabakh - During the Soviet era, this region was part of the Azeri SSR although the majority of its inhabitants were ethnic Armenians. After the Soviet Union collapsed, a war began with Armenia defeating Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh is contiguously inside Azeri territory and is a de facto independent state, although it is not recognized as such. It is aligned with Armenia, even using Armenia's currency as its own. The current president of Armenia grew up in this region. Making things even more complicated, there are parts of Azeri territory inside Armenia.
Although the fighting nowadays is sporadic and mostly cross-border shelling, the situation is very tense. Several thousand armed troops are on each side of the de facto border. As Azerbaijan's wealth increases due to oil revenue, there is pressure on Baku to take back control of Nagorno-Karabakh as its loss to much poorer Armenia is considered a stain on Azeri dignity. Several thousand ethnic Azeris fled the region and are refugees inside Azerbaijan proper.
Why should you care?
If this conflict ever becomes unfrozen, you'll find out in a hurry. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan is predominantly Muslim and Armenia predominantly Christian, the United States generally backs Azerbaijan in this conflict while Russia weighs in on Armenia's side. The distribution of ethnic groups makes it impossible to resolve this conflict "naturally" without wide-scale ethnic cleansing.
Latin America
Colombia - There are three major terrorist/insurgency groups, the FARC, ELN and AUC, plus a dozen smaller ones. The FARC is probably the largest insurgency/terrorist group in the world, in terms of numbers of armed members.
The "good news" is that a recent deal to start demobilizing and disarming the AUC is in effect. The bad news is that the FARC's operations have been stepped up recently and they are inflicting heavy losses on the Colombian military.
Why should you care?
The obvious reason is because so many drugs originate in Colombia, especially cocaine. It is one of the most militarized and armed regions of the western hemisphere, including from the billions the United States gives to the Colombian military. Lately the Colombian gov't has been fighting FARC rebels across the border in Ecuador, which could further destabilize the region.
Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala - There is no war ongoing between government troops and some kind of insurgency or terrorist organization. So why am I including these countries?
A combination of widespread poverty, years of civil war and the deportation of convicted criminals from the United States have led to the rise of "maras" or gangs. The level of violence against civilians is a kind of de facto terrorism, even if it isn't called that. Daytime attacks even against targets like public buses are becoming increasingly common.
Why should you care?
With the exception of Costa Rica, the entire region is becoming dangerous destabilized. The gangs are gaining the upper hand on law enforcement, which causes trouble in Mexico and across the border into the U.S.
Europe
Kosovo - You might be forgiven if you thought the fighting in Kosovo is over. The bombs and guns are mostly silent, but this area is on the verge of exploding yet again.
The minority Serbian population largely lives in isolated enclaves, surrounded by the majority Albanians. The talk amongst the international community is that the "final status" of Kosovo will be resolved by the end of the year - whether it will become a fully independent country or remain a province of Serbia. Currently it is being administered by the United Nations and several thousand EU troops keep the peace.
Why should you care?
A fully independent Kosovo, however that is achieved (referendum, mandate, etc) would incite a lot of anger in Serbia, including those who are moderates and want to work to join the EU. Russia is a major ally of Serbia's and is not likely to support full independence. The Balkans have always been a flashpoint for regional instability and an independent Kosovo could light the match, especially in neighboring Bosnia.
Besides all of that, Kosovo has devolved into the European headquarters for drug, weapons and human trafficking. Women from eastern countries are literally sold into sexual slavery in the west.
Moldova - After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the TransDniestr region (see map) declared full independence and fought a brief but vicious war against Chisinau and "won". It isn't recognized as an indepedent country but it looks, acts and feels like one.
With the rest of Moldova being poor and agricultural and many of its people siphoned off to work abroad (in one way or another), there was little Chisinau could do. But with support from the U.S. and a change in government in Ukraine, the pressure to resolve this conflict has been increasing. Last month Ukraine declared no goods could be imported from TransDniestr without a Moldovan customs stamp, causing a brief but damaging halt to trade.
Many in Russia were outraged and a relief convoy was sent of foods and medicines people donated. Some in Russia are now seriously considering admitting TransDniestr as a new Russian state, something TransDniestr has long wanted.
Why should you care?
Due to TransDniestr's de facto independence and strong support from Russia, it can do pretty much what it pleases. Of primary concern is the large number of small arms manufactured there, shipped out to feed wars all over the planet. And for a long time, TransDniestr was a major market for buying ex-Soviet armaments, up to and including missiles, tanks and possibly even nuclear warheads.
Furthermore, Russia still maintains a military base and troops in Transdniestr. This is one of the key stumbling blocks to the signing of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. To see why that is so important, click here.
This is Part 1. Part 2 will focus on Africa and the Middle East, which shall unfortunately be a lengthy treatise indeed.
I've tried to do my best and tell you why you should care about these conflicts, even if the suffering of human beings is not enough, even if lives ruined and families shattered by war is not enough.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in the wars in Iraq (and Afghanistan) because that's where American troops are shooting bullets and dying every day. But the world is a vast, interconnected place and what happens in Russia and Indonesia impacts us all. The abuse of human rights, the viciousness of terrorism, the excuse of fighting guerillas to impose martial law and deny people their basic rights matters to me and hopefully to all of us.
I am an advocate for peace, which means amongst other things that I do not call for a military solution to these problems I've outlined above. I realize that sometimes this may be "necessary" in a realpolitik sense, but what I would rather see is the United States truly stand up and be a leader in advocating freedom of government, protecting human rights and above all, peace.
It is wonderful to send food and reconstruction aid to countries when a natural disaster hits. But there are people suffering from man-made disasters, often far worse than any earthquake or tsunami. The clout of the United States government is still immense. I wonder what the planet would look like if we pressured China more on human rights and less on copyright violations. Or if we sold Pakistan fewer F-16's and more medicine, school supplies and infrastructure aid.
I began writing years ago because the traditional media fails to cover these (and many other) stories adequately. It still boggles my mind that terrorism in India, which kills more people than Al-Qaeda ever did, gets almost no attention. Or that Kosovo is largely forgotten despite the fact it has so many lessons to teach us about ethnic strife and nation building.
The pundits say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Jesus said, so as you do unto the least of them, you do unto me. I say that there is no better dividend for the health, happiness and yes prosperity of the entire world than peace.
I don't really expect this administration to do anything. And I'm not sure how much any of US can do individually. But what I do know is that before something can be done, there must be awareness that the problem exists. And this is why I wrote this diary for you.
Cross-posted from the doubleplusungood crimethink website Flogging the Simian
Peace