WEEK FIVE: Humanitarian Aid and Relief during Conflict Flashcards
(8 cards)
Slim (2015) – Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster
Slim explores the moral foundations and ethical challenges of humanitarian work in war and disaster zones. He emphasizes empowering aid recipients, resisting hegemonic tendencies, and addressing aid’s entanglement with geopolitics. While defending humanitarianism’s value, he critiques “mission creep” and selective interventions driven by donor priorities. He debunks the myth that aid significantly prolongs conflict, instead placing responsibility on primary actors. Slim argues for ethical vigilance and localised aid governance, framing humanitarianism as dangerous but necessary work requiring constant moral engagement.
Anderson (1999) – Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace—Or War
Anderson outlines how aid can unintentionally fuel conflict through theft, market distortion, or legitimizing factions. She introduces the “Do No Harm” framework, helping practitioners analyse how aid affects dividers and connectors in conflict zones. Emphasising local capacities for peace, Anderson warns against externally imposed solutions and promotes context-sensitive aid. Her approach shifts responsibility from neutrality to intentional peace support, recognising the dynamic nature of conflict and the importance of adaptive, informed intervention.
Morris (1990s) – Humanitarian Intervention in the Balkans
Morris analyses humanitarian action in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo, showing how aid is politicised and perceived differently by conflicting parties. The UNHCR’s impartial role was undermined by military aims and perceptions of bias. Humanitarian action often became entangled with military strategy, lacking political support to address root causes. Morris calls for proactive intervention, accountability, and integrated peace processes, warning that vague mandates and delayed responses can prolong suffering and conflict.
Barber (1997) – Feeding Refugees, or War? The Dilemma of Humanitarian Aid
Barber explores how guerrilla groups exploit refugee aid for military advantage, with examples from Cambodia, India, and Sri Lanka. She outlines six principles used to co-opt aid—ranging from manipulating media to refusing demilitarisation. Barber critiques the substitution of aid for political solutions and calls for reforms like demilitarising camps and dispersing refugees. Without such measures, she warns, humanitarian aid risks prolonging conflict and deterring future assistance to genuine refugees.
Roberts (1997) – Humanitarian Action in War
Roberts offers a realist critique of 1990s humanitarianism, questioning its effectiveness without political or military support. He stresses the limits of neutrality and the necessity of force to ensure aid delivery in conflict zones. Addressing dilemmas around conflicting principles, partiality, and enforcement, Roberts argues for pragmatic military involvement and political responsibility. He cautions against idealism and urges recognition of humanitarian action’s entanglement with broader geopolitical realities.
Rose et al. (2013) – The Challenge of Humanitarian Aid: An Overview
Rose and co-authors examine the evolving humanitarian landscape, noting rising emergencies and prolonged crises. They critique the inadequacy of coordination mechanisms and the dominance of Western aid models. Aid often fails to build resilience or ensure long-term access, especially in chronic emergencies. The authors call for locally informed, participatory models and propose expanding core principles with openness, empowerment, and adaptability to break cycles of permanent crisis and dependence.
Autesserre (2014) – Peaceland: Conflict Resolution and the Everyday Politics of International Intervention
Autesserre critiques peace-building’s failure to engage with local contexts, coining “Peaceland” to describe the insulated world of international interveners. Through the DRC case, she shows how aid workers and diplomats reproduce standardized, technocratic approaches disconnected from local realities. These shared practices marginalise local actors and blur boundaries between humanitarianism and peace-building. Despite different mandates, interveners often share the same routines and narratives, undermining genuine, sustainable solutions.
Barnett & Weiss (2008) – Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics
Barnett and Weiss explore how humanitarianism has evolved beyond emergency relief to address root causes like poverty and governance. They highlight ethical tensions between neutrality and political consequences, and how aid can inadvertently support regimes or prolong conflict. Humanitarianism is shaped by power dynamics, donor interests, and institutional interdependence. The authors offer six lessons: center victims, recognise evolving crises, embrace interdependence, acknowledge limits, accept accountability, and reconcile values with strategic interests.
