Global attention tends to follow media cycles, donor priorities, and strategic interests. But the suffering caused by violence doesn’t diminish simply because the spotlight moves elsewhere. Several major conflicts over the last few decades have unfolded largely outside international awareness or intervention, resulting in devastating consequences. These neglected wars tell a story of lost opportunities, silence, and human cost that could have been mitigated with timely, committed action.
One of the most underreported conflicts in recent history has been the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Beginning in the late 1990s and often dubbed Africa’s World War, it involved multiple nations and armed groups. Estimates suggest more than five million people died as a result of direct violence, disease, and famine linked to the war. Despite its scale, international attention was minimal. The UN did deploy MONUC, a peacekeeping mission, but its mandates were too narrow, its response too slow, and the mission struggled with internal issues of misconduct and inefficiency. Had a more responsive global mechanism like the GPA existed, capable of rapid deployment and accountable operations, the trajectory of this conflict might have shifted dramatically.
Yemen presents another painful case. Since 2014, the civil war has displaced millions and caused what the UN has labeled the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Yet, because of the geopolitical sensitivities involving Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Western arms sales, consistent diplomatic pressure and humanitarian access have been difficult to maintain. Despite horrific conditions—including mass starvation and attacks on civilian infrastructure—efforts to enforce ceasefires or protect civilians have faltered. A truly independent peacekeeping body could have entered early, without taking sides, and focused solely on civilian protection.
The Rohingya crisis in Myanmar is another tragedy marked by delayed response. In 2017, Myanmar’s military launched a brutal campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority, involving killings, sexual violence, and the razing of villages. Over 700,000 people fled to Bangladesh. Despite clear evidence and repeated warnings from human rights groups, the international community hesitated, largely due to diplomatic caution and the complex politics of ASEAN. The GPA model would have enabled early protective presence and international scrutiny, potentially reducing the scale of the atrocities.
In Sri Lanka, the final stages of the civil war in 2009 saw a rapid military offensive by the government against the Tamil Tigers. Human rights organizations and UN reports have since documented tens of thousands of civilian deaths, many due to indiscriminate shelling and the targeting of no-fire zones. The UN later admitted it had failed the people of Sri Lanka. Its officials on the ground were constrained by lack of political backing and limited mandate. If a peacekeeping structure had existed that was empowered to act on humanitarian grounds alone, without needing permission from national actors, it might have offered some buffer to the civilian population.
The conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia, erupted in 2020 and quickly escalated into a full-scale war involving massacres, sexual violence, and widespread displacement. Access for journalists and aid workers was heavily restricted, and for months the international community struggled to get reliable information. The response, again, was slow and fragmented. Had there been a standing body like the GPA with regional specialists and field readiness, early warnings could have triggered faster humanitarian corridors and protective deployments.
These forgotten or ignored crises underscore a key weakness in how the global system currently operates: it’s reactive, fragmented, and often paralyzed by national interest. The people caught in these conflicts were not less deserving of peace or protection. They simply didn’t fit neatly into existing strategic or political frameworks. A reimagined peacekeeping model must ensure that urgency and need, not visibility or power, guide action.