Ethnic conflict

Ethnic conflict is not new or rare. Amy Chua lists Rwanda, Indonesia, The Philippians and Yugoslavia as just a few countries that have suffered from this struggle over the last 20 years. Often time the hostility is surfaced by differences in social standing and economic wealth. In Indonesia while Chinese Indonesians comprise of only 3% of the population they make up for 70% of the wealth. This breeds tension and leads to ethnic conflict. In many African countries ethnic struggling has been ongoing because of the motley tribes in each area. But the ethnically torn Yugoslavia in the 90’s was not always that way.


Joe Sacco, an American journalist published a historical cartoon, Safe Area Gorazde, about his experience amidst the turmoil in Yugoslavia. Under Tito, the Muslims, Serbs, and Croats lived peacefully together. But after the death of Tito, Milosevic usurped power and fought for Serbian Nationalism. Sacco documents the breakdown of normal suburban lifestyle which evolved into brutal killings, bombings and pillaging of the Muslim people. Sacco not only presents the gruesome truths of the conflict with words the cartoons that accompany the captions add another dimension to the chaos present in the country. Edin, one of the main characters in Sacco’s story, describes life before the war when everyone was friendly, celebrated together and thought nothing of their ethnic differences until Milsosevic came to power. Sacco describes who burnt down Edin’s home, “It was our neighbors… We used to play football together. We used to go out at night” (Sacco 87). Another sad truth Sacco shows is in Gorazde, a U.N. designated “safe area,” was far from safe. After the ’94 offensive, the amount of deaths was exaggerated to “shame the world into doing something,” (187). The U.N. was virtually useless in the conflict.


The fighting in Yugoslavia was only stopped after NATO carried out a two week bombing against the Bosnian Serbs. The U.N. often receives criticism for not being proactive enough, but it is hard for an organization that represents each country around the world to take action in a war between ethnicities in a different country with great momentum and speed. Because of the U.N.’s procedure and rules in court while interacting between countries, little gets accomplished. So while the idea of the U.N. is good, incorporating the opinions of each nation, it is unrealistic to expect swift action. NATO took its first military actions after the cold war in Yugoslavia. NATO while still had 28 members was able to intervene with enough force to end the conflict and establish peace, which was agreed with a peace treaty in Dayton, Ohio in 1995.


Sacco’s cartoon not a typical superman crime fighting piece, it was a historical piece, much like other pieces of journalism from the time, with a visual aspect. The cartoons illustrate handicapped limbs, bodies shot, and mass graves which are far more powerful than any words. As cliché as it is, for Joe Sacco’s writing, a picture is truly worth a thousand words.