The Forgotten Wars: Conflicts That Don’t Make Headline News
The world’s attention, swayed by the news cycle, often remains fixed on conflicts in regions that carry significant geopolitical weight. Yet, while headlines cover the most high-profile wars, there are countless conflicts unfolding quietly, underreported and often forgotten. These wars impact millions of lives, devastate communities, and leave scars on entire generations, yet they rarely capture the global focus or funding needed to bring them to a peaceful resolution.
One such conflict that flies largely under the radar is in the Central African Republic (CAR), a country that has been plagued by civil unrest and violence for years. Despite attempts at peace, the CAR remains in turmoil, with rebel groups clashing with government forces and each other. The violence in the CAR has created a severe humanitarian crisis: more than a quarter of the population is displaced, either internally or as refugees in neighboring countries. While the country teeters on the edge of chaos, the world pays little attention to this conflict, leaving international organizations and a few aid agencies to handle the aftermath with limited resources.
Similarly, Yemen remains embroiled in what is described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, yet it rarely makes front-page news anymore. What began as a power struggle between Houthi rebels and government forces has devolved into a complex war, drawing in external powers, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, who support opposing sides. The conflict has led to staggering numbers of civilian casualties, displacement, and a famine that has left millions on the brink of starvation. Children are especially vulnerable, with malnutrition rates skyrocketing as families struggle to access food, water, and medical care. Though Yemen is occasionally mentioned in international news, the world’s attention has shifted, and the country continues to suffer, unseen by much of the global community.
In Myanmar, a brutal conflict has been raging since the military coup in 2021, with the ruling junta cracking down on pro-democracy forces. Thousands have been killed, and the government has engaged in widespread torture, arbitrary arrests, and violent suppression of its own citizens. Ethnic minorities, like the Rohingya, have been particularly targeted, facing near-genocidal conditions, with many fleeing to refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh. Despite these ongoing atrocities, Myanmar’s plight receives limited media attention, and international intervention has been sporadic at best. For those suffering in Myanmar, the lack of sustained attention from the global community makes their path to justice seem a distant hope.
Another overlooked war exists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a brutal conflict has been waged for decades, often referred to as “Africa’s world war” due to the involvement of various countries and ethnic groups. The DRC’s conflict is a complex web of ethnic violence, political power struggles, and competition over the country’s vast natural resources, including minerals like coltan, which is essential for electronics. Millions have died, many due to starvation, disease, or violence, and thousands more are displaced, struggling to survive in makeshift camps. Despite the staggering death toll and human suffering, the DRC’s plight receives little attention internationally, often dismissed as a regional or internal problem rather than a humanitarian catastrophe that demands global intervention.
Meanwhile, in northern Mozambique, an insurgency by an ISIS-affiliated group has devastated the Cabo Delgado region, a largely forgotten front in the fight against extremism. The violence has caused mass displacement, with entire towns overrun, homes burned, and civilians caught in the crossfire. Mozambique’s government, lacking resources, has struggled to regain control, turning to private military contractors and international allies for help. Yet, with limited news coverage, the suffering in northern Mozambique remains largely invisible to the outside world, even as thousands are killed or forced from their homes.
In Colombia, decades of civil war between government forces, paramilitary groups, and rebel factions like the FARC may have formally ended with a peace agreement, but violence continues in rural areas. New armed groups have emerged, often involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining, and they clash with each other and the government, leaving civilians caught in the middle. Indigenous communities, particularly vulnerable to this violence, face constant threats of displacement, land seizures, and environmental destruction. While Colombia’s urban areas experience relative peace, its rural regions remain war zones, yet this ongoing violence is rarely mentioned in international media.
The underreporting of these conflicts can be partly attributed to the complexity and remoteness of the regions, as well as a lack of strategic interest from global powers. Many of these conflicts don’t fit into the dominant geopolitical narratives or lack the economic or political incentives that drive international attention. In an age where information is at our fingertips, it’s a tragic irony that the suffering of millions can go unnoticed, simply because it doesn’t make the evening news.
Yet the lack of attention has consequences. When conflicts are ignored, so are their victims. The displaced families, the orphaned children, and the wounded civilians are left to endure unimaginable suffering with little hope of international aid or intervention. Humanitarian organizations, often the only lifeline for these communities, operate with limited resources, struggling to provide basic services in some of the world’s most dangerous environments. And without media coverage, these organizations find it harder to raise the funds they need to continue their work.
For the global community, this lack of awareness is a failure of responsibility. While we may not have the power to solve every conflict, ignoring these crises ensures that the suffering continues. Increased media coverage alone won’t bring peace to these regions, but it could build the momentum needed for political action, humanitarian aid, and perhaps even interventions that could save lives.
Each of these conflicts is a tragedy, and each deserves more than to be sidelined as a footnote to history. The world must find the will to look beyond the headline-grabbing wars and conflicts that dominate news cycles and begin to address the forgotten wars that devastate countless lives in the shadows. Awareness is the first step toward action, and these overlooked conflicts need the world’s attention now more than ever. To change the lives of those suffering in silence, we must shine a light into the darkness that hides these forgotten wars.
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I know an American who lives in Cabo Delgado. The horror stories she tells are bone-chilling. She does relief work and ministers to Christian locals. Because she has spoken about it, I have sent funds that I know will directly help feed people who are starving.
I also know of someone who works with pygmies in DRC. They are starving because of the conflicts in that country.
Compassion fatigue is a real thing, we truly can't take on all the suffering in the world, but if each of us takes on some of it, we can relieve the suffering. Thanks for pointing out those places that others are not talking about.