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Conflict Mapping 3.0

Article · January 2014

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Jen Ziemke
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Conflict mapping 3.0

Jen Ziemke, co-director of the International
Network of Crisis Mappers, says interactive
crisis mapping can help protect people caught
in conflict — but only if the way we think about
and use crisis maps adapts to changing modes
of warfare.

In just a few years since the earthquake in Haiti in

2010, digital, online crisis maps have become a
standard tool for humanitarians seeking to better
understand both the big picture, and the micro,
street-by-street level needs of people affected by
disaster or conflict.

But there is another, less-understood way that these

maps can play a vital humanitarian role, particularly
during times of war or violence: to serve as witness,
to capture and document alleged violations of
international humanitarian law, and to shine a light
on those who torture, unlawfully detain, or otherwise
violate the dignity of their fellow human beings.

Unlike conflict maps of the past, these interactive,

real-time maps can include a vast array of data:
satellite imagery, aerial photography, video captured
with a cell phone, eyewitness testimony sent by e-
mail, etc. If managed well, these maps can then help
document specific abuses related to all sides in a
conflict, they can reveal important patterns and
highlight areas or times when protection of
vulnerable people is most needed. In that way, they
provide evidence to back up humanitarian appeals
for greater protection measures — even potentially
as an entry point for future investigations of war
crimes.

One of the best examples of conflict mapping done

well is Syria Tracker (see article in Red Cross Red
Crescentmagazine), which has collected reports of
abuses and crimes against civilians, perpetrated by
all armed groups, since the very beginning of the
conflict.
This site has added a new dimension to crisis maps
developed for prior conflicts, such as during the
revolution and subsequent civil war in Libya, in which
the Libya Crisis Map tracked, among other events,
the movement of refugees, food and water requests,
and the evolving situation on the battlefield.

The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) initiated the Libya crisis
map in order to improve their situational awareness
of this complex and changing environment. This map
helped identify gaps in humanitarian assistance and
provision, and to chart next steps.

Syria Tracker has taken things a step farther by

gathering a wide range of reports from citizen
observers, who report on people’s specific, daily
humanitarian needs, as well as on specific incidents
of executions, rape, bombing of religious buildings,
and the killings of civilians, among other things.

Mapping such atrocities not only helps humanitarians

respond to specific, immediate needs. It also
provides a better understanding of the way conflicts
evolve and reveal important trends and processes
inherent during warfare.

One case in point is the Angola Crisis Map, an

historical mapping project that tracked the history of
all known battles, massacres and territorial gains and
losses over this 41 year long war, comprising some
10,000 events. Evidence from the study suggests
that risk to civilians during the Angolan war was
highest after combatants sustained large battlefield,
territorial, or symbolic and strategic losses. When an
army is losing, the likelihood that combatants
engage in violations towards civilians drastically
increases.

Research in political science suggests that most civil

conflicts do not end by negotiated settlement but by
military victory over a defeated army. That means
that when analysts observe what seems to be the
“endgame”, and one army is being pushed back
toward inevitable defeat, practitioners and
policymakers should be on increased alert for
violations against civilians in the area. The creation
of humanitarian corridors or other protection
measures should be prepared in advance and readily
deployable for these contingencies.

With this in mind, it’s also important to consider that

in today’s world, the mere presence of a live crisis
map could conceivably change the course of events
on the ground. Because crisis maps are near-real
time reflections of live conflicts, their mere presence
means events may not truly be independent
observations. They could be used for propaganda
purposes, or become a new battlefield for
misinformation intended to deceive an enemy.

Fortunately, this is already a hot topic within the

mapping community with considerable discussion
about how to ensure the reliability, neutrality and
independence of data, as well as safety of those who
submit reports.

Mapping the geography of relationship

As the nature of conflict changes, the maps we use

must also adapt. Today we are at an historical
juncture when the increasing availability of real time,
geo-referenced event data making maps with dots an
attractive first visualization of this complex data.

But today’s conflicts cannot be best understood

merely as a catalogue of events that take place
between certain lines, dots and coloured areas on a
computer screen.

Consider the counter-insurgency wars of the past

decade in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen.
Wars in this era are less about place and space,
conquering and holding territory or even acquiring
strategic locations, than they are about other
features and dynamics. Thus, the best way to
visualize some modern armed struggles are through
network maps, which are about revealing the
relationships that shape each strategic context (see
attached map of the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo).

Understanding the role that personal networks,

histories, relationships, and symbols play in warfare
should not be lost in the excitement of geographic
maps. Understanding these relationships can help
humanitarians navigate the complex mine fields of
shifting alliances and intense feuds that are inherent
in areas of strife and violence.

Just as new technology is changing the balance of

power between people and states, well-trod political
and military strategies are also shifting at precisely
the time when wars are becoming more analytically
complex. Most so-called “civil wars” are not solely
domestic affairs but can often be best understood
through the prism of international dynamics, regional
rivalries or fragmented global diaspora.

Add layers of intrigue and secret manoeuvres, and

suddenly “understanding” the data seems nearly
impossible. Perhaps even today’s digital maps, rich
 with data and imagery, are not up to the task. That’s
why the digital mapping community must urgently
find better ways to represent all of the encoded in
conflict — and in vast sets of data — so that these
new tools can live up to their potential in terms of
protecting the lives and dignity of people affected by
war and violence.

By Jen Ziemke
Jen Ziemke is co-founder and co-director of the
International Network of Crisis Mappers, associate
professor at John Carroll University, Fellow at the
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and volunteer for
Standby Taskforce deployments for Chile, Haiti and
Libya.

This article originally appeared in the

Australian Red Cross’s International
Humanitarian Law magazine and was adapted
for www.redcross.int

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