15 - Compassion and Humanitarianism in International Relations

Summary

The decades since World War II have been characterized by distinct patterns of conflict and cooperation between US foreign policy and humanitarian organizations. This is, in many ways, predictable given their goals and what each wants from the other. American humanitarian organizations pledge a commitment to the idea of saving distant strangers in urgent, life-threatening circumstances. And just like all humanitarian organizations, they need two fundamental things to do so. Money, and lots of it. Assembling, transporting, distributing, administering, and overseeing the massive amounts of aid requires considerable money, material, and staff. They also need access to the affected populations. This access is mainly controlled by states and armed groups. In natural disasters this tends to be a minor challenge; governments and affected populations typically welcome any and all aid. Human-made disasters such as war, though, are an entirely different matter. Delivering aid in war zones is much less straightforward.