Product Description

Drawing on first hand reporting from hot war zones around the world - Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, Kosovo, Sudan and most recently, Afghanistan - David Rieff shows us what humanitarian aid workers do in the field and the growing gap between their noble ambitions and their actual capabilities for alleviating suffering. Tracing the origins of major humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Medicines San Frontieres, and CARE, he describes how many of them have moved from their founding principles of neutrality - which gave them access to victims - to encouraging the international community to take action to stop civil wars and ethnic cleansing. Rieff demonstrates how this advocacy has come at a high price. By overreaching, the humanitarian movement has allowed itself to be hijacked by the major powers, sometimes to become a fig leaf for actions that major powers take in their own national interests, as in Afghanistan, sometimes for their inaction, as in Bosnia and Rwanda. With an exception of cases of genocide, where the moral imperative to act overrides all other considerations, Rieff contends that if humanitarian organizations are to continue doing what they do best - alleviating suffering - they must remain independent.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53326 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
David Rieff is a journalist who has covered wars and refugee crises around the world and has worked as a human rights investigator for various foundations. A visiting professor at Bard College and the author of four previous books, including Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West, he lives in New York.