Forgotten Humanitarian Crises

When states collapse. When basic state functions are no longer carried out. When people have no security. Then humanitarian crises erupt. This article will focus on the response to humanitarian crises in relation to state collapse. What are the roles and responsibilities of the media and the political decision-makers respectively? Confronting the problem of state collapse, the stronger states have followed an ad hoc policy of intervention and aid. Some times intervening, sometimes ignoring. Often the media are blamed for the lack of consistency and for determining the political agenda. Actually, politicians complain about the media both when the media ’interfere’ (the CNN-effect) and when they do not. This article looks at how the media do cover the failing states. Sierra Leone and the Congo are used as examples. The analysis shows that there is little coverage describing the causes and complexities of the crises, and the interest is often short lived, leaving the rebuilding and reconstruction phases out. A Danish survey of the editorial process in newsrooms shows that a consistent coverage is prevented by the selection criteria, which follow the traditional news values and tend to reflect the national perceptions of the world. It is argued that the politicians are the ones determining the national interest in a specific situation, thereby setting the media agenda. Both media and politicians forget those who ought not to be forgotten. On the eve of a trip to West Africa in February 2002, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, compared the intense international interest in helping Afghanistan rebuild a new state with the lack of interest in getting involved in helping the Congo. “If you allow a series of failed states to rise, then sooner or later you end up having to deal with them.” He went on to compare our lack of interest in the failing states and the humanitarian crises in Africa with our lack of interest in Afghanistan a decade ago. We know that state collapse is one of the main factors behind humanitarian crises and complex emergencies. Ignoring state collapse is leaving people in need – it is forgetting the forgotten. But who forgets? Is it lack of interest in the media or lack of political will in governments that prevent help in reaching the forgotten? The argument presented here contains three elements: Firstly, it is argued that a review of the policy towards failing states reveals a high degree of policy inconsistency. Outside states will act in some cases, but not in others. Despite a strong collective state interest in maintaining order in the international society, state policy has been situational and inconsistent. Secondly, it is demonstrated that there is little continual media coverage of failing states and the related humanitarian crises. Thirdly, it is argued that the infrequent media coverage of failing states and humanitarian crises is the combined result of two factors. One is the dominance of national foreign policy in framing the agenda of the news media. The other is the use of traditional news criteria in the selection of news stories. The conclusion is that humanitarian crises in failing states are sometimes forgotten both by the media and by the political leadership. It is sometimes easier to ignore yet another crises in a far away country than to do something about it. This phenomenon has been termed ‘bystander apathy’ or ‘compassion fatigue’. This lack of interest leaves the political leaders with a special responsibility to place failing states and humanitarian crises on the agenda. Helping Some Forgetting Others: A Policy of Inconsistency Since 1990, the world’s dominant states have been trying to come to terms with the challenges presented by failed and failing states3. A failed or failing state is one in which basic state functions are no longer carried out. Groups of people or entire populations have no security. Military and police forces fail to maintain order. Chaos reigns. Communication breaks down, and with it, the apparatus of the state. Humanitarian crises and complex emergencies are the result.4