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NATIONS
ZERO
BBC World transmission times
(GMT):
Saturday 4th February
@ 14:10 & 22:10
Sunday 5th February
@ 10:10 & 18:10
WAR AND PEACE
IN THE 21st CENTURY
“Wars will last as long as there’s a heaven and earth”, according to Mao.
"It’s not those who die, but those who
live who suffer most," according to an
8-year-old survivor of guerilla war in
Colombia.
Events since World War II bear out this gloomy prediction. More people have been killed in
conflicts since 1945 than in the two world wars. But the nature of war has changed.
Set piece battles between the armies of warring nations are rare.
The face of war now is civil conflict. In Nations Zero we travel to four countries that
have recently experienced civil conflict: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Rwanda
and Afghanistan.
Overwhelmingly, we find in Nations Zero, the victims are civilians, not soldiers. And
they are victims of more than weapons, displacement and disease. They are victims of the damage that civil conflict does to a country’s economy.
So, as the UN has recently recognised with the founding of the Peace Commission,
peace does not come with the signing of a piece of paper, it comes when there is
an investment in sustainable development.
50% of conflicts recur in poor countries. Economic development is the
most effective guarantor of lasting
peace.
In Nations Zero, Paul Collier – principal author of the World’ Bank’s policy paper
Breaking the Conflict Trap – pours scorn on those who argue that war is inevitable.
Collier points out that nine out of ten conflicts are fought in poor nations even
though religious and racial tensions can be just as severe in rich countries. To
Collier winning the peace means investing heavily in economic development.
According to Jeffrey Sachs: “If countries are to break the conflict trap, they must
first break the poverty trap, which in turn is a cause of conflict”. For each one per
cent increase in a country’s GDP the likelihood of conflict shrinks in proportion.
And if rich nations don’t make that investment, argues a World Bank director Steen
Jorgensen, expect more conflicts, lasting longer.
Traditional courts in Rwanda are
working for reconciliation. A massmurderer hears his crimes read out.
Director: Rivo Hero
Camera: Tatsuo Mori
Producers: Marco Kalmyo
and Robert Lamb
With thanks to
the Government of Japan