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How Can Humanitarian Analysis, Early Warning and Response Be Improved?
Aditya Sarkar
,
Benjamin J. Spatz
,
Alex de Waal
,
Christopher Newton
, and
Daniel Maxwell

organised ( Boege et al. , 2009 ; de Waal, 2020 ). Politics in these systems is organised by different rules than in bureaucratic states. At the most basic level, political elites (mostly men) try to gain and retain power through near-constant bargaining using violence and material reward – the ‘twin currencies’ of political power ( Spatz, 2020 ). Alliances are fluid; elite members can compete one moment and collude the next, or indeed can do both

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Timothy Longman

makes the intentionality required to demonstrate genocide somewhat more difficult to prove in court. What Guichaoua argues does not make what happened in Rwanda any less a genocide, because the goal was to wipe out Rwanda’s Tutsi, even if this goal developed as part of a strategy to consolidate political power. In fact, the idea that the genocide was not mapped out in advance reinforces the reality that the violence was not inevitable and could have been halted with effective international action. Ideology and the Motives of Those Who Killed Many of the early

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Uses and Misuses of International Humanitarian Law and Humanitarian Principles
Rony Brauman

. The humanitarian ideal was therefore ‘inaccessible to savage tribes that … follow their brute instincts without a second thought, while civilized nations … seek to humanize it’ ( Moynier, 1888 ). This goes to show that humanitarian principles, far from being a timeless good, are not immune to prevailing stereotypes or political power relationships. As a treaty aimed at an emblematic nineteenth-century battle was being signed, the conflicts and massacres of civil wars and

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Open Access (free)
Brad Evans

awaits its realisation. Hence, despite the impotence of violence, that doesn’t mean to say it cannot be put into service to reproduce or create entirely new regimes for political power and bio-political control. Violence is not simply negative. It conditions the possibility of political rule, setting out in the clearest ways the lines of belonging and expendability, the force that’s always measured versus the plight of the damned. This is why violence can so easily be accommodated by the technocratic wisdom of a progressive mind. We are governed, as Foucault noted, by

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Resilience and the Language of Compassion
Diego I. Meza

Virtual Universidad Católica del Norte , 62 , 308 – 40 , www.doi.org/10.35575/rvucn.n62a12 . Barnett , M. ( 2011 ), Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism ( Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press ). Barnett , M. and Weiss , T. G. (eds) ( 2008 ), Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics ( Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press ). Benthall , J. and Bellion-Jourdan , J. ( 2003 ), The Charitable Crescent: Politics of Aid in the Muslim World ( London and New York : I.B. Tauris

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Insight from Northeast Nigeria
Chikezirim C. Nwoke
,
Jennifer Becker
,
Sofiya Popovych
,
Mathew Gabriel
, and
Logan Cochrane

approaches in humanitarian contexts (adapted from the IGWG Gender Equality Continuum Tool) Gender Blind Disregards the multidimensional roles, responsibilities and opportunities of men and boys, women and girls within the humanitarian context and society at large. Ignores local and global socio-political power dynamics (and its manifestations) between and among actors of diverse genders in humanitarian settings. Neglects the intersecting, gendered experiences/needs of humanitarian workers, volunteers, beneficiaries and other partners in the project

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Open Access (free)
The Politics of Information and Analysis in Food Security Crises
Daniel Maxwell
and
Peter Hailey

the room ’. This phenomenon was observed in nearly every consensus process. In short, some members assert their authority over a consensus-based process and overtly influence the outcome beyond consideration of the evidence. This may be based on the political power of the agency or the reputation or experience of the individual. In some cases, another influential member may be able to pull a consensus process back on track if it is going astray

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Learning from the case of Kosovo
Jenny H. Peterson

profit, and the consolidation of political power KLA and Diaspora ‘Homeland is Calling’ fund to support KLA KLA and organised crime groups Drug smuggling, extortion/protection rackets, human smuggling for profit and to support armed uprising Informal traders and citizens throughout region and internationally Smuggling as a form of employment/livelihood strategy; 3% tax tempering the portrayal of Kosovo’s war economy participants as always or only concerned with supporting the cause of independence. The war economy also needs to be understood not just in terms of

in Building a peace economy?
The nature of the development-security industry
Jenny H. Peterson

great deal of political power and wealth through corruption, illicit trade and violence. Most concerning is that the liberal project is pursued via the use of hegemonic mechanisms, resulting in an ‘agenda of control’ (Cooper, 2003; Pugh and Cooper, 2004). These methods taken together relate to one of the strongest critiques against the (neo-) liberal ideological project, namely its autocratic underpinnings. As David Harvey finds, ‘it is the profoundly antidemocratic nature of neoliberalism that should surely be the main focus of political struggle. Institutions with

in Building a peace economy?
Current policy options and issues
Jenny H. Peterson

opponents (leading to or deepening internal political conflict). As such, when resources are held purely in the public-political realm they are seen as a potential source of conflict. Privatisation is seen as a way of removing the possibility of such political abuse of resources. Its aim is to ensure that political (and therefore potentially violent) competition over resources is replaced by a more neutral mode of competition based on the efficiency of competing private interests which are focused on maximising financial wealth as opposed to maximising political power

in Building a peace economy?