The war in Ukraine, when viewed side by side with recent wars around the world from Yemen to Syria to Ethiopia, indicates disturbing global trends. There is far too little protection for civilians, and the detrimental impact is heightened for already vulnerable groups. Civilians displaced by war sit in limbo for years, and those lucky enough to escape their war-torn countries are relegated to overcrowded and under-resourced camps. The Council on Foreign Relations reports shrinking opportunities for refugee resettlement, a result of the international community’s inability and/or unwillingness to support them or resolve the conflict that caused their displacement in the first place. Refugees in camps can face intense discrimination and fall victim to starvation, illness, and human trafficking. And the perpetrators of all this global violence and suffering tend to be met with impunity. This is the grim status quo.
Posts published by “Liana Almony”
Liana Almony (she/her) is a second-year MA student in NYU’s International Relations department. She graduated from the University of California Los Angeles in 2019, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations, and double minored in Global Studies and Digital Media Studies. She has extensive professional experience with media management in the nonprofit sector, and continues to utilize her communication skills to advocate for human rights and social justice on a global scale. In her spare time, Liana enjoys boxing, photography, and exploring the NYC restaurant scene.
Although the barrage of news coverage surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war tends to describe the conflict as “unprecedented” and “with no historical parallel,” the underlying interests and tensions that drove Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine are by no means new.
Since their inception in ancient Greece, the Olympic Games have been used as a tool for peace promotion.