Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T08:43:50.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Principles, Politics, and Humanitarian Action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Thomas G. Weiss
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The tragedies of the past decade have led to an identity crisis among humanitarians. Respecting traditional principles of neutrality and impartiality and operating procedures based on consent has created as many problems as it has solved. A debate is raging between “classicists,” who believe that humanitarian action can be insulated from politics, and various “political humanitarians,” who are attempting to use politics to improve relief and delivery in war zones

This essay examines the pros and cons of impartial versus political humanitarianism and differing approaches across a spectrum of actors, including the classicists, led by the International Committee of the Red Cross, who believe that humanitarian action can and should be completely insulated from politics; the “minimalists,” who “aim to do no harm” in delivering relief; the “maximalists,” who have a more ambitious agenda of employing humanitarian action as part of a comprehensive strategy to transform conflict; and the “solidarists,” exemplified by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), who choose sides and abandon neutrality and impartiality as well as reject consent as a prerequisite for intervention. The essay argues that there is no longer any need to ask whether politics and humanitarian action intersect. The real question is how this intersection can be managed to ensure more humanized politics and more effective humanitarian action.

Type
Articles
Information
Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 13 , March 1999 , pp. 1 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Neutrality and impartiality are important because they are central to the humanitarian ethos and give rise to much controversy. Consent is emphasized here because nonintervention in domestic affairs is the glue of international relations, and consent guides virtually all UN actions with the exception of Chapter VII coercion. See Harroff-Tavel, Marion, “Neutrality and Impartiality: The Importance of These Principles for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Difficulties Involved in Applying Them,” International Review of the Red Cross, no. 273 (1989), pp. 536–52Google Scholar. See also Sandoz, Yves, “The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Law of Armed Conflict Today,” International Peacekeepitrg 4 (Winter 1997), pp. 86–99Google Scholar.

2 Pictet, Jean,“The Fundamental Principlesof the Red Cross,” International Review of the Red Cross, no. 210 (1979), pp. 130–40Google Scholar, quote at p. 135, and Development and Principles of International Hmnanitarian Law (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 198 S). Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, universality, voluntary service, and unity are principles of “humanitarian action” (guiding relief and protection of rights) as distinct from principles of “international humanitarian law” (for example, the distinctions between combatant and noncombatant), which are not the subject of this inquiry.

3 Duffield, Mark, “The Political Economy of Internal War: Asset Transfer and the Internationalisation of Public Welfare in the Horn of Africa,” in Macrae, Joanna and Zwi, Anthony, eds., War and Hunger: Rethinking International Responses to Complex Emergencies (London: Zed Books, 1994), pp. 50–69Google Scholar. For a discussion of humanitarian tragedies as growth opportunities see, for example, Maren, Michael, The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity (New York: Free Press, 1997Google Scholar). See also Keen, David, The Economic Functions of Violence in Civil Wars (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998Google Scholar), Adelphi Paper 320; and Jean, Francois and Rufin, Christopher, eds., Economies des Guewes Civiles (Paris: Hachette, 1996Google Scholar).

4 The debate was initiated by de Waal, Alex and Omaar, Rakiya, Humanitarianism Unbound? Current Dilemmas Facing Multi-Mandate Relief Operations in Political Emergencies (London: African Rights, 1994Google Scholar), Discussion Paper No. 5.

5 Steering Committee, “Background Paper: Humanitarian and Political Action: Key Issues and Priorities for a Concerted Strategy,” Report ori the Second Wolfsberg Humanitarian Forum, 5–7 June 1998 (Geneva: ICRC, 1998), p. 1Google Scholar, hereafter Report Second Wolfserg.

6 Sommaruga, Corneiio, “Concluding Remarks,” Report Second Wolfsberg, p. 3Google Scholar.

7 Perrin, Pierre, “The Impact of Humanitarian Aid on Conflict Development,” International Review of tbe Red Cross, no. 323 (June 1998), p. 332Google Scholar.

8 Moore, Jonathan, ed., Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas in Humanitarian Intervention (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littkfield, 1998Google Scholar).

9 Forsythe, David P., Humanitarian Politics: The International Committee of the Red Cross (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977), p. 3Google Scholar.

10 Ogata, Sadako, “Keynote Address,” Report Second Wolfsberg, P. 1Google Scholar.

11 Natsios, Andrew, “Commentary,” Ethics & International Affairs 11 (1997), p. 133CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Steering Committee, “Background Paper,” P. 4Google Scholar.

22 Duffie]d, Mark, “The Symphony of the Damned: Racial Discourse, Complex Political Emergencies and Humanitarian Aid,” Disasters 20 (September 1996), p. 191Google Scholar.

23 Macraq, Joanna “The Death of Humanitarianism? An Anatomy of the Attack,” Disasters 22 (December 1998), p. 316Google Scholar. This is part of a special issue entided “The Emperor's New Clothes: Charting the Erosion of Humanitarian Principles,” p. 7.

24 Chr. Michelsen Institute, Humanitarian Assistance and Conflict (Bergen, Norway: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 1997), p. 3Google ScholarPubMed; this publication contains a good review of the literature of the 1990s.

25 See Daniel, Donald C. F. and Hayes, Bradd C., “Securing Observance of UN Mandates through the Employment of Military Force,” Itrterrratiottal Peacekeeping 3 (Winter 1996), pp. 105–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Annan, Kofi, “Challenges of the New Peacekeeping,” in Otunnu, Olara A. and Doyle, Michael W., eds., Peacemaking and Peacekeeping for tbe New Century (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998), pp. 169–87Google Scholar.

26 Slim, Hugo, “International Humanitarianism's Engagement with Civil War in the 1990s: A Glance at Evolving Practice and Theory,” a briefing paper for ActionAid UK, document dated 19 December 1997, p. 16Google Scholar.

27 See Weiss, Thomas G. and Collins, Cindy, Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention: World Politics and the Dilemmas of Help (Boulder: Westview, 1996), pp. 97–134Google Scholar.

28 Wiener, Myron, “The Clash of Norms: Dilemmas in Refugee Policies,” Journul of Refugee Studies 11 (1998), pp. 1–21Google Scholar. See also Smith, Dan, “Interventionist Dilemmas and Justice,” in McDermott, Anthony, ed., Hrmurrtitariats Force (Oslo: International Peace Research Institute, 1997), pp. 13–39Google ScholarPubMed, especially pp. 29–31.

29 Nagle, Thomas, Moral Questions (New York: Cambridge University press, 1991), p. 74Google Scholar.

30 Pictet, , “The Fundamental Principles,” p. 136Google Scholar; and Leader, Nicholas, “Proliferating Principles or How to Sup with the Devil Without Getting Eaten,” Disasters 22 (December 1998), p. 305CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

31 The author is grateful to Charles Keely for this thoughtGoogle Scholar.

32 ICRC founder Henry Dunant's efforts could be contrasted with the more circumscribed assessment of his Swiss compatriot Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who earlier had emphasized the importance of kin, kith, and kerx “It appears that the feeling of humanity evaporates and grows feeble in embracing all mankind, and that we cannot be affected by the calamities of Tartary or Japan, in the same manner as we are by those of European nations.”Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, “A Discourse on Political Economy,” The Social Corstract and Discourses (New York: Dutton, 1950), p. 301Google Scholar See also Sherman, Nancy, “Empathy, Respect, and Humanitarian Intervention,” Ethics & Itttematiotsal Affairs 12 (1998), pp. 103–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

33 Rowlands, Dave and Carment, Davjd, “Moral Hazard and Conflict Intervention,” in Wolfson, Murray, ed., The Political Economy of War and Peace (The Hague: Kluwer, forthcoming), p. 2Google Scholar, emphasis in original.

34 Ignatieff, , The Warrior's Honor, P. 8Google Scholar.

35 Prins, Gwyn, “Modern Warfare and Humanitarian Action,” keynote lecture to an ECHO-ICRC conference entitled “Humanitarian Action: Perception and Security,” Lisbon, March 27–28, 1998, p. 6Google Scholar.

36 Minear, and Weiss, , Humanitarian Action in Times of War, P. 37Google Scholar.

37 See, for example, Macrae, , “The Death of Humanitarianism? An Anatomy of the Attack”; and Cindy Collins, “Critiques of Humanitarianism and Humanitarian Action,” in Humanitarian Coordination: Lessons LearnedGoogle Scholar

38 de Waal, Alex, Famitie Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa (Oxford: James Currey, 1997), p. 145Google Scholar.

39 see, for example, Seybolt, Taylor B., “The Myth of Neutrality,” Peace Review 8 (1996), pp. S21–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Betts, Richard, “The Delusion of Impartial Intervention,” Foreign Affairs 73 (1994), pp. 20–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

40 Chopra, Jarat and Weiss, Thomas G., “Sovereignty Is No Longer Sacrosanct: Codifying Humanitarian Intervention,” Ethics & International Affairs 6 (1992), pp. 95–118CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

41 “Objectives and Agenda of the Forum,” Report First Wolfsberg, P. 1Google Scholar.

42 Rieff, , “The Humanitarian Illusion” p. 30Google Scholar.

43 Steering Committee, “Background Paper,” p. 4Google Scholar.

44 “Introductory Address by Dr. Cornelio Sommaruga,” Report First Wolfsberg, p. 3Google Scholar.

45 Hutchinson, John F., Chwnpions of Charity: War and the Rise of tbe Red Cross (Boulder: Westview, 1996Google Scholar).

46 Destexhe, Alain, “Foreword,” in Jean, Franqois, ed., Populations in Danger 1995 (London: Médecins Sans Frontières, 1995), pp. 13–14Google Scholar.

47 Roethlisberger, Eric, “Faced with Today's and Tomorrow's Challenges, Should the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Rethink Its Code of Ethics?” speech of March 20, 1998, p. 2Google Scholar; and “Guiding Principles on the Right to Humanitarian Assistance,” International Review of the Red Cross, no. 297 (November-December 1993), pp. 519–25.

48 Forsythe, , Humanitarian politics, P. 234Google Scholar.

49 Anderson, Mary B., Do No Harm: Supporting Local Capacities for Peace Through Aid (Cambridge, Mass.: Collaborative for Development Action, 1996Google Scholar).

50 Surhke, Astri and Newland, Kathleen, “Humanitarian Assistance in the Midst of Armed Conflict,” paper presented for a conference on “The Evolution of International Humanitarian Response in the 1990s,” Carnegie Endowment and the Gdman Foundation, Yulee, Florida, April 23–26, 1998, p. 2Google Scholar; and Bryans, Michael, Jones, Bruce D., and Stein, Janice Gross, Mean limes: Humanitarian Action in Complex Political Emergencies-Stark Choices, Cruel Dilemmas (Toronto: Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation, 1999), p. viGoogle Scholar.

51 see Anderson, Mav B. and Woodrow, Peter J., Rising from the Ashes: Development Strategies in Times of Disaster (Boulder: Westview, 1989Google Scholar); and McAllister, IanSustaining Relief with Development (Dordrecht: Nijhoff, 1993Google Scholar).

52 See Hendrickson, Dylan, “Humanitarian Action in Protracted Crises: The New Relief 'Agenda' and Its Limits,” RRN Network Paper 25 (London: ODI, April 1998Google Scholar).

53 “Concluding remarks by Dr. Cornelio Sommaruga,” Report First Wolfsberg, p. 2Google Scholar.

54 Development Assistance us a Means of Conflict Prevention (OS1O: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, February 1998), p. 14Google Scholar.

55 Duffield, Mark, Aid PolicY and Post-Modern Conflict: A Critical Review (Birmingham, UK: School of Public Policy, 1998Google Scholar), Occasional Paper 19, p. 3.

56 See Development Assistance Committee, Policy Statement on Conflict, Peace and Developrnerrt Co-operation on the Threshold of the 21st Century (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 1997Google Scholar).

57 Boyce, James K. and Pastor, Manuel Jr., “Aid for Peace: Can International Financial Institutions Help Prevent Conflict?” World Policy Journal 15 (Summer 1998), p. 42Google Scholar.

58 Cairns, Edmund, A Safer Future: Reducing the Human Cost of War (Oxford: Oxfam Publications, 1997), p. 94CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59 Herbst, Jeffrey, Securing peace in Africa (Cambridge, Mass.: World Peace Foundation, 1998Google Scholar), WPF Reports no. 17, p.10.

60 “Review of the Capacity of the United Nations System for Humanitarian Assistance: Report of the Secretary-General,” document E/1997/98, July 10, 1997, para. 6Google Scholar.

61 deCourten, Jean, “ICRC Statement on Security Environment,” Geneva, draft presented at the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group, 24 April 1997, p. 2Google Scholar. For a discussion against the use of force from the classicist perspective, see Palwankar, Umesh, ed., Symposium on Humanitarian Action and Peacekeeping Operations (Geneva: ICRC, 1994Google Scholar).