Illustrating wars and armed conflicts from a different perspective:
Who suffers and who invests the most?


Mohsen Rezaeian


Dr. Mohsen Rezaeian (Ph.D, Epidemiologist, Associate Professor)
Social Medicine Department, Rafsanjan Medical School, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Tel: +98 391 5234003
Fax: +98 391 5225209
Email: moeygmr2@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

Wars and armed conflicts are among the most neglected types of human social sicknesses. The chief aim of the present article is to illustrate who suffers the most from, and who invests the most in, these ignored continuing problems within human society.

Keywords: War, Armed conflict, Suffering, Investing

Introduction

Wars and armed conflicts are among the most neglected types of human social sicknesses (1). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in the year 2000 alone, almost 310,000 people died from war-related injuries (2).Furthermore, such mortality unequally affected different parts of the world (3,4), and the pattern of investing money on these ignored continuing problems within different countries, varies to a great extent (5,6).

Since depicting a problem on a map not only reveals more information but also attracts the attention of the reader, more than any other associated statistics (7&8), the chief aim of the present article is to portray two of the most important impacts of wars and armed conflicts on human beings. Therefore, in what follows I will try to illustrate who suffers the most from, and who invests the most in, these ignored continuing problems within human societies.

Maps

In order to fulfil the aim of the article, I have used the maps with permission, from the Worldmapper website http://www.worldmapper.org/index.html. The maps presented on this website and their corresponding data files cover 200 territories, which include United Nations Member States and a few other territories (Map 1).

*© Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).

Map 1: Map of the world in which the territories are proportional to their land area*

However, despite the data in Map 1 in which each territory is mapped in proportion to its actual size, for depicting other variables on the map, density equalised cartogram technique is used. It should be noted that this technique re-sizes each territory in proportion to the variable being mapped (9). In other words, by applying this approach the producers deliberately 'distort' the maps so that the plotted area of the region indicated on the map is proportional to the value it takes, rather than to its geographical area (10) (Maps 2 and 3).


* © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).

Map 2: Map of the world in which the territories are proportional to their war deaths in the year 2002*


* © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).

Map 3: Map of the world in which the territories are proportional to their military spending in the year 2002*

Who suffers from and who invests the most in wars and armed conflicts?

Based on the World Health Organisation's 2004 World Health Report on war deaths, which has been illustrated in Map 2, worldwide in 2002 there were an estimated 172,000 of such deaths. However, as the density equalised Map 2 depicts, territories within Africa and the Middle East have recorded the highest war deaths, since they are hugely expanded on the map. On the contrary, countries within North America, Western Europe, East Asia and Japan have recorded no war deaths since they are barely visible on the map.

Based on the United Nations' 2004 Human Development Report on military spending which has been illustrated in Map 3, worldwide in 2002 such spending was estimated at US$789 billion. Military spending consists of costs of recruitment and training of military personnel, supplies, weapons, equipment, construction plus spending on military assistance to other countries. However, as the density equalised Map 3 depicts, North America, Western Europe, Japan and the Middle East were the largest military spenders, since they are hugely expanded on the map. On the contrary, countries within Asia (south and south-eastern) and Africa (central and north) were the smallest military spenders, since they are barely visible on the map.

The following URL provides a link to a website showing the ongoing cost of war to the United States of America. http://costofwar.com/en/

An obvious tragic conclusion

Comparison between Maps 2 and 3 reveal two clear, tragic pictures as follows:

Firstly, countries in the North i.e. North America, Western Europe and Japan invest most money in wars and armed conflicts whilst countries in the South i.e. Africa, suffer most from the consequences of wars and armed conflicts in terms of war-related mortalities. Who is responsible for this North-South divide? Are Northern or Southern governments, or perhaps both, jointly responsible for this appalling situation? What is the role of the international community in changing these circumstances?

Secondly, of the countries within the Middle East, all Southern countries, have a double edged sword circumstance. On one hand they are among countries which suffer most from the consequences of wars and armed conflicts, and on the other hand they are among countries which invest the most money on these social maladies. It seems that the Middle East is a very extraordinary hot spot of war and armed conflicts in the world. Although for its geopolitical situation and massive natural resources, the region has suffered a large amount of wars and armed conflict, (4) shall this situation continue forever?

References
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3. World Health Organisation. World health report on violence and Health. Geneva: WHO, 2002.
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9. Gastner, MT. Newman, MEJ. Diffusion-based method for producing density equalizing maps. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2004; USA 101, 7499-7504.
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