Synergy is a medical concept. It may be defined as "combined or correlated action of a group of bodily organs," like nerve centers or muscles.151 It could be said that the media function as both a nerve center and a muscle when it comes to the dynamics of conflict, and the international perceptions thereof.
This paper has been drafted at a time when voices in the international community have been comparing the developing science of conflict prevention to that of preventive medicine. For example, in a recent speech on preventive defence, then U.S. defence secretary Perry detailed how, in the same way that "preventive medicine creates the conditions which sup port health, making disease less likely and surgery unnecessary," it can be said that "preventive defence creates the conditions which support peace, making war less likely and deterrence unnecessary."152
The medical analogy is a potent comparison taken up elsewhere by Lord Owen.153 Less optimistically, Owen, as a former doctor, outlined how the vast bulk of modern illness is not cured, but alleviated by the doctor's skills . . . . The dramatic cure is the exception rather than the rule. . . . Much the same limitation affects politicians dealing with conflict within a nation or internationally. Violence is part of daily living. We can deplore its existence, but we are not likely to root it out from our diverse societies. This author shares Lord Owen's conclusion that both doctor and politician "have to accept, albeit with resignation, the limitations imposed by the structures in which they operate: the human body and the body politic."
The question is where do the media fit in to this illness and/or curative process? The media transmit information, but does the information help prevent the slide into violent conflict? When a patient informs a doctor of symptoms of an unknown condition, does that information mean that the doctor can either prevent deterioration from the illness or cure it? Or is that condition essentially incurable?
If the limited medical analogy is sustainable, then the measured caution and pessimism of this author's analysis remains justified. It seems that beyond the mere fact of reporting conflict, or signs pointing to a looming conflict, the media have significant limits on their influence. The same is true for big governments in the developed world. Beyond a certain point, they are powerless to prevent a conflict that at least one potential belligerent is determined to start and see through to its awful, premeditated end.
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