What Important Lessons The War In Ukraine Taught me.
Having my family in Ukraine made me realize why it is essential to be informed about global conflicts and how we’re dealing with them.
Being personally involved is one of the reasons why this matter touches me. But, I have to admit: the previous refugee crises seemed more distant to me and limited my participation in donations or writing something about it. Next to that, I rarely read about wars in different countries before Ukraine. It was far away, I didn’t know anyone from there, I knew little about the countries and their conflicts, so I was more drawn to other issues, until now. Nowadays, I follow every piece of news and different opinion columns.
At the moment of writing, In the EU — e.g. Poland and Germany — there is a large influx of Ukrainian refugees. Many people with different backgrounds respond, resulting in various outcomes.
This war is not like others.
Like probably in every war, there are the usual strategies to justify the actions, different tactics to attack and defend the territories, the consequences of the actions, the fleeing people, and not to mention propaganda. However, having a war in a place adjacent to the most developed and one of the safest continents in the world in the digital era makes this war unique on probably every level.
The EU is being criticized for dealing with the refugee influx.
A group of people who have a connection to a conflicting country different from Ukraine make themselves heard. Some of them say highlighting Ukraine overshadows other countries. Therefore, people forget about other important matters by focusing too much on the Ukrainian crisis. The EU provides room for the Ukrainian refugees in a short period, making some wonder why this is possible while other refugees are being welcomed in a lesser quantity with a follow-up conclusion that the EU gives preferential treatment to the Ukrainian refugees.
Being so close to the war, I can imagine how other people from different countries who have suffered may feel. Therefore, it is good to ask ourselves whether it is racism that the EU feels more emphasized and connected to people who live closer to them, who physically look like them, have similar cultures etc. Or maybe is it in our DNA to be disturbed by the difference within the human species? Let’s emphasize: I am not saying that this is the case, just raising the question.
I would like to believe we are all human and trying to help people in trouble. If I prefer helping one person over another, I feel more connected to that person. It is not because that person has more value. Besides, is it even possible to have more value as a person?
The war in Ukraine is a reason for more control.
Some people believe that the government and the law-enforcement bodies of different countries consider the war in Ukraine as one of the events that have determined the need to strengthen the control over citizens. Many interpret this as a continuation and tightening of the authoritarian regime. Although the war has woken us all up and reminded us of the importance of safety and freedom, I don’t believe it’s used to control the citizens.
There are many different lessons conflicts can teach us, but one of the important lessons it taught me is being grateful for what I have and that we shouldn’t forget that even other global conflicts don’t directly connect to us; they affect us indirectly through their consequences. This is how it goes. We are interconnected with other countries in every aspect.
