I want to speak about a forgotten conflict. It's a conflict that rarely hits the headlines. It happens right here, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
我想讲述一场被遗忘的战争。 一个几乎从不占据头条的斗争。 它在这里发生, 在刚果共和国。
Now, most people outside of Africa don't know much about the war in Congo, so let me give you a couple of key facts. The Congolese conflict is the deadliest conflict since World War II. It has caused almost four million deaths. It has destabilized most of Central Africa for the past 18 years. It is the largest ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world.
现在,大部分不生活在非洲的人 并不知晓刚果的战争, 所以让我来告诉你几个重要的事实。 刚果战争是第二次世界大战以来最致命的战斗。 它已经导致了将近四百万死亡。 它已经让过去18年的中非颠沛流离。 它是世界上正在进行的最大人道危机。
That's why I first went to Congo in 2001. I was a young humanitarian aid worker, and I met this woman who was my age. She was called Isabelle. Local militias had attacked Isabelle's village. They had killed many men, raped many women. They had looted everything. And then they wanted to take Isabelle, but her husband stepped in, and he said, "No, please don't take Isabelle. Take me instead." So he had gone to the forest with the militias, and Isabelle had never seen him again.
这就是为什么我在2001去了刚果。 当时还是个人道主义救援人员的我, 遇到了一个年龄相仿的女孩。 她叫伊莎贝拉。 当地的义勇军袭击了伊莎贝拉的村庄。 他们杀了许多男人,强暴了许多女人。 他们洗劫了一切。 后来他们想带走伊莎贝拉, 但是她丈夫站了出来, 他说,“不,求你们不要带走她, 让我代替她吧。“ 就这样他跟着民兵进了森林, 伊莎贝拉再也没有见过他。
Well, it's because of people like Isabelle and her husband that I have devoted my career to studying this war that we know so little about.
因为像伊莎贝拉和她丈夫这样的人 我为研究这场战争贡献了我的职业生涯 这场我们少有知晓的战争。
Although there is one story about Congo that you may have heard. It's a story about minerals and rape. Policy statements and media reports both usually focus on a primary cause of violence in Congo -- the illegal exploitation and trafficking of natural resources -- and on a main consequence -- sexual abuse of women and girls as a weapon of war.
不过你应该听说过一个关于刚果的故事。 一个关于矿产和强暴的故事。 政策声明和媒体报道 大部分时间都集中于刚果暴力的主要原因-- 自然资源的非法开采与交易-- 和一个主要后果-- 把性虐待女人和女孩作为战争武器。
So, not that these two issues aren't important and tragic. They are. But today I want to tell you a different story. I want to tell you a story that emphasizes a core cause of the ongoing conflict. Violence in Congo is in large part driven by local bottom-up conflicts that international peace efforts have failed to help address.
的确这些问题很重要也很悲惨。 不过我今天要讲一个不同的故事。 我想告诉你一个强调 战争主要原因的故事。 在刚果,暴力的起因主要是本地由下到上的, 国际和平努力未能提到的斗争。
The story starts from the fact that not only is Congo notable for being the world's worst ongoing humanitarian crisis, but it is also home to some of the largest international peacebuilding efforts in the world. Congo hosts the largest and most expensive United Nations peacekeeping mission in the world. It was also the site of the first European-led peacekeeping mission, and for its first cases ever, the International Criminal Court chose to prosecute Congolese warlords. In 2006, when Congo held the first free national elections in its history, many observers thought that an end to violence in the region had finally come. The international community lauded the successful organization of these elections as finally an example of successful international intervention in a failed state.
这个故事的开始,是刚果不仅是 世界正在进行的最糟人道危机, 也是一些最大的国际 建设和平力量的所在地。 刚果拥有全球最大并且 最贵的联合国维护和平团队。 它也是第一支欧洲和平维护队伍所选之地。 国际刑事执法也是第一次 选择控告刚果军阀。 2006年,刚果举行历史上 第一次全国自由选举时, 许多旁观者以为暴乱终于结束了。 国际社区大力赞扬了 成功推动选举的机构 作为在一个失败的国家里 成功进行国际调停的例子。
But the eastern provinces have continued to face massive population displacements and horrific human rights violations. Shortly before I went back there last summer, there was a horrible massacre in the province of South Kivu. Thirty-three people were killed. They were mostly women and children, and many of them were hacked to death. During the past eight years, fighting in the eastern provinces has regularly reignited full-scale civil and international war. So basically, every time we feel that we are on the brink of peace, the conflict explodes again.
但是东边的省份 依旧面临着大量的人口流失 和可怕的人权侵犯。 在我回刚果前不久, 南基伏发生了一起惨烈的屠杀。 三十三人被杀。 他们中大部分是女人和孩子, 很多都是被砍伤致死。 在过去的八年里, 东刚果的战斗定期 重燃全面内战和国际战争。 简单来说,每次当我们感觉和平快要到来时, 战争就会爆发。
Why? Why have the massive international efforts failed to help Congo achieve lasting peace and security? Well, my answer to this question revolves around two central observations. First, one of the main reasons for the continuation of violence in Congo is fundamentally local -- and when I say local, I really mean at the level of the individual, the family, the clan, the municipality, the community, the district, sometimes the ethnic group. For instance, you remember the story of Isabelle that I told you. Well, the reason why militias had attacked Isabelle's village was because they wanted to take the land that the villagers needed to cultivate food and to survive.
为什么? 为什么大量国际的努力 依旧无法让刚果达到长期的和平稳定? 我对这些问题的回答 围绕着两个主要观察。 第一,刚果暴乱持续的主要原因之一 其实是局部的-- 当我说局部, 我其实指的是个人级别,家庭, 宗族,城市,社区,片区, 有时种族。 比如,你记得我给你们讲过的 伊莎贝拉的故事吧。 民兵袭击她的村庄 是因为他们想要村民们 赖以生存的耕地。
The second central observation is that international peace efforts have failed to help address local conflicts because of the presence of a dominant peacebuilding culture. So what I mean is that Western and African diplomats, United Nations peacekeepers, donors, the staff of most nongovernmental organizations that work with the resolution of conflict, they all share a specific way of seeing the world. And I was one of these people, and I shared this culture, so I know all too well how powerful it is. Throughout the world, and throughout conflict zones, this common culture shapes the intervener's understanding of the causes of violence as something that is primarily located in the national and international spheres. It shapes our understanding of the path toward peace as something again that requires top-down intervention to address national and international tensions. And it shapes our understanding of the roles of foreign actors as engaging in national and international peace processes. Even more importantly, this common culture enables international peacebuilders to ignore the micro-level tensions that often jeopardize the macro-level settlements.
我的第二个主要观察是,国际和平努力 因为现今建设和平的文化氛围, 没能顾及地方性斗争。 我想说的是, 从事于解决战争的 西方和非洲的外交官们, 联合国和平卫士,捐赠者们, 大部分民间机构工作人员, 都用同样的视角在看待这个世界。 我以前也是他们之一,我也在这样的文化下, 所以我知道它有多强大。 这个遍布世界和战争地区 的普遍文化 让调停者认为 暴乱的原因主要 是在全国和国际范围内的。 它使我们认为 达到和平需要 自上而下的干预 来解决全国和国际范围的紧张关系。 它也使我们认为 外国角色的任务 是参与到全国与国际范围的和平进程。 更重要的是,这个普遍文化 使国际和平建设者们忽略了 危害宏观级别和解的 微级矛盾。
So for instance, in Congo, because of how they are socialized and trained, United Nations officials, donors, diplomats, the staff of most nongovernmental organizations, they interpret continued fighting and massacres as a top-down problem. To them, the violence they see is the consequence of tensions between President Kabila and various national opponents, and tensions between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. In addition, these international peacebuilders view local conflicts as simply the result of national and international tensions, insufficient state authority, and what they call the Congolese people's so-called inherent penchant for violence.
举个例子,在刚果, 因为他们受到的社会和专业教育 联合国工作人员,捐赠者,外交官, 非政府机构工作人员 都把持续的战争与屠杀 视为由上而下解决的问题。 对他们来说,他们所见的暴乱 是卡比拉总统和各个国家政敌 的紧张关系,还有刚果、卢旺达、 乌干达紧张关系的结果。 此外,这些国际和平使者们 仅仅把地区性矛盾 看作是全国和国际紧张局势, 薄弱的政府, 和他们所谓的刚果人民 天生暴力倾向的结果。
The dominant culture also constructs intervention at the national and international levels as the only natural and legitimate task for United Nations staffers and diplomats. And it elevates the organization of general elections, which is now a sort of cure-all, as the most crucial state reconstruction mechanism over more effective state-building approaches. And that happens not only in Congo but also in many other conflict zones.
主流文化也使全国和国际层面调停 成为联合国工作人员和外交官 唯一自然正当的任务。 它也把现在类似万灵药的 普选组织升为 最重要的国家重建机制, 甚至超过其他更有效的国家建设途径。 这现象不仅在刚果,也发生在许多其他纷争地带。
But let's dig deeper, into the other main sources of violence. In Congo, continuing violence is motivated not only by the national and international causes but also by longstanding bottom-up agendas whose main instigators are villagers, traditional chiefs, community chiefs or ethnic leaders. Many conflicts revolve around political, social and economic stakes that are distinctively local. For instance, there is a lot of competition at the village or district level over who can be chief of village or chief of territory according to traditional law, and who can control the distribution of land and the exploitation of local mining sites. This competition often results in localized fighting, for instance in one village or territory, and quite frequently, it escalates into generalized fighting, so across a whole province, and even at times into neighboring countries.
不过让我们再深入, 去探究暴乱的其他主要原因。 在刚果,持续暴乱 不仅由全国与国际原因造成, 也因为长期存在的由下到上的议程。 村民们,酋长们,社区首领们和 民族领袖们是它们的主要煽动者。 许多矛盾都围绕着明显地区性的 政治,社会和经济利益。 比如说,村庄和片区有 许多关于谁能根据 传统条律成为村庄或区域的首领, 谁能控制地产分布 和矿产开采的竞争。 这样的竞争经常造成地区的打斗, 比如说在某村庄或片区, 经常升级为广泛的战争, 横跨整个省份, 甚至有时附近的国家。
Take the conflict between Congolese of Rwandan descent and the so-called indigenous communities of the Kivus. This conflict started in the 1930s during Belgian colonization, when both communities competed over access to land and to local power. Then, in 1960, after Congolese independence, it escalated because each camp tried to align with national politicians, but still to advance their local agendas. And then, at the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, these local actors allied with Congolese and Rwandan armed groups, but still to advance their local agendas in the provinces of the Kivus. And since then, these local disputes over land and local power have fueled violence, and they have regularly jeopardized the national and international settlements.
举个例子,在刚果的卢旺达后裔 和所谓的基伏原住民团体的战争 从1930年左右,比利时殖民期, 由土地使用权和当地政权的竞争开始。 接着,在1960年,刚果独立后, 斗争因为双方尝试与国内政治家联盟而扩张, 不过依旧只是为推动他们本地的议程。 后来,在1994乌干达种族屠杀时, 这些地区性角色与刚果和乌干达武装分子联盟, 依旧为推动基伏片区的议程。 从那时开始,这些关于土地和政权 的地区性矛盾 便已为暴乱加油, 它们也经常危害到 国内和国际的和议。
So we can wonder why in these circumstances the international peacebuilders have failed to help implement local peacebuilding programs. And the answer is that international interveners deem the resolution of grassroots conflict an unimportant, unfamiliar, and illegitimate task. The very idea of becoming involved at the local level clashes fundamentally with existing cultural norms, and it threatens key organizational interests. For instance, the very identity of the United Nations as this macro-level diplomatic organization would be upended if it were to refocus on local conflicts. And the result is that neither the internal resistance to the dominant ways of working nor the external shocks have managed to convince international actors that they should reevaluate their understanding of violence and intervention. And so far, there have been only very few exceptions. There have been exceptions, but only very few exceptions, to this broad pattern.
所以我们可以纳闷为什么在这些情况下 国际和平使者无法实施 本地和平建设计划。 它的答案是,国际调和者们 把解决草根矛盾看作是 不重要,不熟悉和不正当的任务。 参与地区性矛盾的概念从根本上就与 现今文化的标准不符, 它也威胁重要机构的兴趣。 比如说,如果联合国 重新专注于地区性矛盾,它的定位, 一个宏观层面的外交机构, 就会被颠倒。 这些的结果就是,无论是内部对主要 运行方式的反抗, 还是外部打击, 都没有说服国际角色去重新评估 他们对暴乱和调和的理解。 到目前为止只发生过几起例外。 有例外发生过,但是与主流格局相比 这些例外微乎其微。
So to wrap up, the story I just told you is a story about how a dominant peacebuilding culture shapes the intervener's understanding of what the causes of violence are, how peace is made, and what interventions should accomplish. These understandings enable international peacebuilders to ignore the micro-level foundations that are so necessary for sustainable peace. The resulting inattention to local conflicts leads to inadequate peacebuilding in the short term and potential war resumption in the long term. And what's fascinating is that this analysis helps us to better understand many cases of lasting conflict and international intervention failures, in Africa and elsewhere. Local conflicts fuel violence in most war and post-war environments, from Afghanistan to Sudan to Timor-Leste, and in the rare cases where there have been comprehensive, bottom-up peacebuilding initiatives, these attempts have been successful at making peace sustainable. One of the best examples is the contrast between the relatively peaceful situation in Somaliland, which benefited from sustained grassroots peacebuilding initiatives, and the violence prevalent in the rest of Somalia, where peacebuilding has been mostly top-down. And there are several other cases in which local, grassroots conflict resolution has made a crucial difference.
总的来说,我刚为你们讲的故事 是一个关于主流和平建设文化 如何形成调和者们对暴乱的起因, 和平的建设, 和介入调停需要达到目的理解的故事。 这些理解使国际和平使者们 忽视对可以持续的和平 极其重要的微级根基。 所致使的对地区性矛盾的不注意 造成不充分和平建设的短期结果 和可能回归战争的长期结果。 吸引人的是这个分析 帮助我们更好理解许多持续的矛盾 和国际调和在非洲和其他区域的失败。 在战中和战后环境下,本地矛盾鼓动暴乱 从阿富汗到苏丹到帝摩尔莱斯塔, 在少有的拥有全面从下到上 和平建设动机的例子里, 这些尝试都成功地创造了长期和平。 最好的例子之一是 相对平静的索马里兰,受益于 维持的草根和平建设动机, 和暴乱遍布的,和平建设主要由上到下的 剩余索马里地区的对比。 也有数个其他地区性、 草根的矛盾决议有重大 成效的案例。
So if we want international peacebuilding to work, in addition to any top-down intervention, conflicts must be resolved from the bottom up. And again, it's not that national and international tensions don't matter. They do. And it's not that national and international peacebuilding isn't necessary. It is. Instead, it is that both macro-level and micro-level peacebuilding are needed to make peace sustainable, and local nongovernmental organizations, local authorities and civil society representatives should be the main actors in the bottom-up process.
所以如果我们想国际和平建设成功, 在从上到下调停的基础上, 矛盾需要从下到上解决。 再说一次,并不是全国和国际矛盾不重要。 他们很重要。 全国和国际和平建设也并不是 不必要。 它是需要的。 反之,要使和平持久,微观和宏观层面的和平建设 都是需要的, 而且本地非政府机构, 本地权威和民间社区代表 才应是从下到上过程的主要角色。
So of course, there are obstacles. Local actors often lack the funding and sometimes the logistical means and the technical capacity to implement effective, local peacebuilding programs. So international actors should expand their funding and support for local conflict resolution.
所以障碍当然存在。 本地角色时常缺少资金 或者有时后勤物资和技术能力 去执行有效的本地和平建设计划。 所以国际角色应该为本地矛盾解决 扩展他们的募资和支持。
As for Congo, what can be done? After two decades of conflict and the deaths of millions, it's clear that we need to change our approach. Based on my field research, I believe that international and Congolese actors should pay more attention to the resolution of land conflict and the promotion of inter-community reconciliation. So for instance, in the province of the Kivus, the Life and Peace Institute and its Congolese partners have set up inter-community forums to discuss the specifics of local conflicts over land, and these forums have found solutions to help manage the violence. That's the kind of program that is sorely needed throughout eastern Congo. It's with programs like this that we can help people like Isabelle and her husband.
至于刚果,能为它做什么呢? 二十年战争和数百万死亡清楚地证明 我们必须改变我们的方法。 根据我的实地调查, 我认为国际和刚果角色 应该多加关注如何解决土地斗争 和促进社区之间的和平共处。 比如说,在基伏地带, 生命与和平协会和它的刚果合作伙伴 建立了社区之间的论坛 用于讨论地区性土地斗争的细节, 并且这些论坛有找到控制暴乱的方案。 当下整个东刚果极其需要的 就是这类计划。 我们只有通过这样的计划 才能帮助像伊莎贝拉和她丈夫那样的人。
So these will not be magic wands, but because they take into account deeply rooted causes of the violence, they could definitely be game-changers.
这些并不是魔法棒, 但是因为囊括了根深蒂固的暴乱起因, 它们一定能成为转折点。
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(掌声)