{"id":2679,"date":"2004-10-31T08:40:35","date_gmt":"2004-10-31T12:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/dbnews\/2004\/10\/31\/how-a-crisis-catches-the-worlds-attent"},"modified":"2004-10-31T08:40:35","modified_gmt":"2004-10-31T12:40:35","slug":"how-a-crisis-catches-the-worlds-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/2004\/10\/31\/how-a-crisis-catches-the-worlds-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Crisis Catches the World’s Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n
\n

On thing the Dowbrigade has been pondering
\n for a while now, and which we have concluded is one of the key pressure
\n points for fixing what ails us, is the
\n often obscure
\n process by which the world decides what is worth its attention.<\/p>\n

The sad fact is that world public opinion, like most of
\n the individuals who make it up, has an extrememly short attention span.
\n For the most part, what occupies that narrow and short-lived band of
\n attention is determined by the international media conglomerates, with
\n important contributions from governments, NGO’s and aid agencies and,
\n hopefully to an increasing degree, by the independent media and the blogosphere.<\/p>\n

This importance of this process in determining what we
\n care about and where we are going to do something about it cannot be overestimated.
\n The emerging electronic central nervous system of the modern wired world
\n has for the
\n first time in the history of the planet created a super-surrogate for
\n the collective consciousness of the human race. When something important,
\n pleasureable or dangerous, occurs anywhere on the planet, the messages
\n will travel over this electronic nervous system to arrive within hours
\n at the planetary brain, the cerebral consciousness, the awareness of
\n people
\n with power
\n or the illusion of power, who have at least the capability to take action
\n and affect the situation.<\/p>\n

It is obvious that the system which determines which of
\n the billions of actions and events taking place around the world every
\n day filters through this system and arrives on the TV screens and newspaper
\n front pages is key to the very nature and values of the evolving world
\n consciousness.  It determines what we know about, what we care about,
\n what we do something about, and ultimately, our usefulness to the universe
\n as a species and perhaps our proper place if not our continued presence
\n in it.<\/p>\n

An interesting article in todays Los
\n Angeles Times<\/a> explores
\n the process by which the spotlight of world attention which is constantly
\n sweeping across the globe stops momentarily to illuminate one or another
\n of the crises crying for attention. It concerns Jan Egeland, UN Undersecretary
\n for Humanitarian Affairs.<\/p>\n

\n

After more than a quarter of a century in human rights
\n and relief work – he became head of Amnesty International in Norway at
\n 23 – the U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, now 47, has the
\n trajectory of a disaster down to a science. He can read the warning signs
\n of a crisis the way a mariner knows that a ring around the moon presages
\n a storm. And he’s learning to predict which situation will spark an international
\n response.<\/p>\n

Only three causes a year rise to the forefront of international consciousness,
\n he figures, and then only after nine dire warnings have been largely ignored.
\n The 10th one, it seems, is the charm. <\/p>\n

But even then, to the frustration of aid officials, the severity of a crisis
\n – the number of dead or injured or starving – is no guarantee that it will win
\n the attention lottery. According to a wide range of humanitarian officials, a
\n complex set of circumstances will determine whether the world will care – and
\n act – to stave off disaster. <\/p>\n

The first critical factor is the geopolitical importance of the individuals or
\n place involved. Kosovo, because it was in Europe, received quick attention. So
\n did Afghanistan – after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. But
\n if disaster happens someplace where no countries have a strategic stake, Egeland’s
\n experience has shown that few will care.<\/p>\n

The second variable is the ability of U.N. workers and other advocates to lobby
\n and act on behalf of the forgotten.<\/p>\n

"Most people can’t find Central African Republic or Guinea on a map," Egeland
\n said. "That leaves us."<\/p>\n

Finally, a select group of Western political and media leaders plays a key role.
\n Once the crisis gets on American television news and the politicians start to
\n visit, money and aid start rolling in. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

from the Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On thing the Dowbrigade has been pondering for a while now, and which we have concluded is one of the key pressure points for fixing what ails us, is the often obscure process by which the world decides what is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}