Monday, November 27, 2006

Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention(4): Conclusion

Currently, in military interventions across the world such as the ones in Afghanistan and Iraq, the use of the positive image of humanitarianism has heightened the potential to damage, if not completely obliterate the genuinely humanitarian organizations[1]. Their raison d'ĂȘtre, easing suffering where it is needed, is possible via the reputation of impartiality for the cause and dedication to the effects of the conflict. While not always welcomed, NGOs such as MSF have been tolerated, if not by governments directly, at least by the locals they helped[2]. In 2002, in Afghanistan, independent aid workers have been targeted repeatedly for their perceived allegiance to the invading force.

Military intervention presented as humanitarian in nature, co-optation of NGO by the military, in order to help the post invasion reconstruction efforts, as well as the military use of civilian/humanitarian actions in order to rally local support have made it difficult to determine if the organizations on the ground were outsiders to the conflict or “the vanguard of expeditionary troops” of newly-defined-just wars[3]. “Whatever their legitimacy, armed interventions intended to assist and protect civilian populations put aid workers at risk from the moment they are deployed under the humanitarian banner”[4]. It is essential that neither the Security Council nor the international intervention force leader should include humanitarian actors in their camp. In case the western state or whatever international interveners claim a humanitarian role, or demand help from the aid organizations, the impartiality of such organizations is compromised, and they become not only unable to provide help where it is needed, but also become vulnerable targets through the nature of their work.

In order to be efficient and impartial, a “humanitarian intervention” should be made in a responsible way. The responsibility should emerge somewhat similarly to the legal ability to prosecute crimes against humanity under universal jurisdiction in the sense that, if states feel they have the ability to act upon the crisis and have the vast majority of the states endorsing the action, they should do it. With the UN taking a more impartial, yet consistent role, and having humanitarian aid and military intervention having as little ideological and practical overlap as possible, humanitarian intervention will take a new shape. This approach however, requires a rather dramatic change in the way humanitarian intervention is regarded, at least in the Western world.


[1] Woollacott, Martin. Humanitarians Must Avoid Becoming Tools of Power

[2] Weissman, Fabrice. Military Humanitarianism: A Deadly Confusion.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

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