The roots of conflict

a study of the worlds politically disputed zones, and a gaze into the history of conflict

The site of Guantánamo Bay Naval base has been under permanent lease to the US government since 1903. The ultra-modern detention center’s infamy is derived from the Bush-era interrogation tactics that function as a haughty endorsement of peril to all who oppose us. Where else, but surrounded by a landmass of the cold war relic Fidel Castro’s Cuba, does such a place belong? Like most politically disputed zones across our globe, Guantánamo Bay is simply overflowing with history. In these places we find conflicts and hatreds that have spanned generations, and in some cases millennia.
It is here I plan to begin my global journey, more than a little inauspiciously, using my lens in a study of the world’s current territorial conflicts. A perusal of world politics quickly exposes the variety of landscapes and cultures represented by these modern geographic oddities. The barren Falklands, The enigmatic satire of Sealand, the unmatched historical piety of Jerusalem, rugged Kashmir, Xanadu-esque Tibet, and the many contrasts of the Koreas; all brimming with mystery and infamy.
This is a voyage of discovery both personal and for the world. I intend to trace and expose the roots of human conflict, among the oldest and most impassioned the world has ever known, and to shed light on the complex answer to the simplest of questions: why do we fight?

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