In just one year in Bosnia, thirty of my colleagues died. There is a little Somme waiting for all innocent journalists.
Robert FiskRead
After the allied victory of 1918, at the end of my father's war, the victors divided up the lands of their former enemies. In the space of just seventeen months, they created the borders of Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia and most of the Middle East. And I have spent my entire career — in Belfast and Sarajevo, in Beirut and Baghdad — watching the people within those borders burn.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the consequences of political decisions that shape borders, leading to conflict and suffering.
In this quote, Robert Fisk emphasizes the long-term impact of the arbitrary borders drawn by victors of World War I. He illustrates how these decisions have led to ongoing violence and turmoil in regions like Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia, and the Middle East, suggesting that the effects of such political actions ripple through time and profoundly affect the lives of those living within those borders.
Themes
BordersConflictWarPoliticsHistorySuffering
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the complexities of modern geopolitics, one might use this quote to exemplify the challenges of conflict-resolution.
More from Robert Fisk
All quotes →The [Israelis] believed - they were possessed of an absolute certainty and conviction - that 'terrorists' were in Chatila. How could I explain to them that the terrorists had left, that the terrorists had worn Israeli uniforms, that the terrorists had been sent into Chatila by Israeli officers, that the victims of the terrorists were not Israelis but Palestinians and Lebanese?
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War is primarily not about victory or defeat but about death and the infliction of death. It represents the total failure of the human spirit.
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U.S. journalists I don't think are very courageous. They tend to go along with the government's policy domestically and internationally. To question is seen as being unpatriotic, or potentially subversive.
Robert FiskRead
The biggest problem I have in journalism is being quoted or misquoted and then being asked to defend something I haven't said.
Robert FiskRead
There is nothing so satisfying as to be shot at without effect.
Robert FiskRead
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