Corruption and Coverage: the History of War in the United States 

Out of the 245 years of the United States’ existence, only 15 have been peaceful, without war and conflict. Wars big and small, waged on open seas, through dense forests, and high in the sky, the United States has done it all.

All wars, however, are not treated equally. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has captured public attention in the West in a way that other recent wars — in Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia, or the genocide against Uyghurs in China – have not. 

Additionally, the international community has not consistently come to the aid of innocent civilians facing violence and displacement. According to Al Jazeera, “Skin is a passport … [it is] epidermal citizenship”. European politicians have expressed support for open borders towards Ukrainian refugees, using terminology such as “intellectuals” and “European” – a far cry from the fear-mongering used by governments and politicians against migrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Jean-Louis Bourlanges, a member of the French National Assembly, told a TV channel that the Ukrainian refugees will be “an immigration of great quality intellectuals, one that we will be able to take advantage of.” 

A BBC News clip of a widely condemned interview with former Ukrainian official David Sakvarelidze made that point in stark, and offensive, terms. He described those affected by the Ukraine war as “European people with blue eyes and blond hair being killed.” 

Similarly to Europe, American media has also given attention to the crisis with a different approach to conflicts in other parts of the world. Charlie D’Agata of  CBS News made a comment that compared cities in Iraq and Afghanistan to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, saying that it is a “relatively civilized, relatively European” city and “one where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that [an invasion is] going to happen.” 

 These statements have been criticized for insinuating that people living in conflict zones outside the Western world are both uncivilized and accustomed to war, with many condemning the ubiquitous tendency of Western media to normalize catastrophes in certain parts of the world. Many have taken to accusing the media, political figures, and journalists, calling them out for disproportionate coverage of the Ukraine war as opposed to other conflicts.  

Kyong Pak, a US History 10 teacher, said, “I think that US politics very much impacts the way we view war in other countries… I think international conflicts like the war in Ukraine are often used as a litmus test of how ‘strong’ and ‘capable’ our US president will appear to his constituents and other nations. How or when our leaders intervene, or how they discuss an ongoing war, is politicized to support or critique the political party.” She also mentions a reemerging theme of criticism for the way the media portrays conflicts around the world. 

The media ultimately drives global response to a crisis. So to some, the world’s attention on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine suggests that Ukrainian citizens are more deserving of sympathy than victims of other military conflicts outside of the Western world.