Brown Cover OP 43 - The Watson Institute for International Studies

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include the diversion of relief to military purpose (as in the refugee camps on the borders of Cold War conflicts), the replacement of social by military spending in government budgets (as in Biafra), and the use of humanitarian logistics to transfer military goods (as in Cambodia). It is plausible that these practices have had important effects in prolonging conflict and making it more difficult to resolve. Although such phenomena are not new, several characteristics of recent conflicts appear to exacerbate the conflict connection. The next chapter examines the dimensions of this connection in greater detail. 12
CHAPTER 2 THE CONFLICT CONNECTION The last chapter examined the historical relationship between humanitarian action and conflict and the impacts of the post-Cold War evolution of the international system on this relationship. It is now widely argued that humanitarian action can exacerbate conflicts by affecting the capacities of belligerents to persist in violent behavior. The present chapter draws upon historical and recent empirical examples to lay out the major dimensions of the connection between humanitarian action and conflict. Humanitarian assistance brings additional scarce resources into societies experiencing social change, where the process of change itself often involves conflict. 1 Local actors seek to influence the distribution of these resources to strengthen their own position and to weaken that of their adversaries. “[W]herever there is a situation of near-anarchy and a large quantity of aid, it is inevitable that a proportion of that aid will fall into the hands of belligerents or feed their supporters. As a result they may be saved from realizing the true cost and pain of the wars to which they are parties.” 2 The activities of humanitarian and developmental actors—while perhaps being sound from the vantage point of mitigating suffering or meeting basic needs and encouraging sustainable growth—may also exacerbate tensions between communities. Effects may be felt both at the micro level of local communities and their leaders and at the macro level of national governments and opposing political formations. Despite the confident quality of much criticism of humanitarian action’s impact on conflict, conclusions regarding the impact must be tentative. 3 It cannot be known with certainty what the course of a conflict in which humanitarian actors have been involved would have been in their absence. Consequently, the analysis is not one of strict cause and effect but instead lies in the realm of plausibility and informed argument. Moreover, it is possible that humanitarian action that prolongs war could have redeeming features. As Adam Roberts has pointed out, a victim of aggression might be assisted in sustaining its resistance where the alternative is a sudden collapse of 13
Page 1 and 2: THOMAS J. WATSON JR. INSTITUTE FOR
Page 3 and 4: Occasional Paper #43 HUMANITARIAN A
Page 5: CONTENTS Foreword by Larry Minear .
Page 8 and 9: able. At the same time, he finds hu
Page 10 and 11: design. Recent practice suggests pr
Page 12 and 13: I am always tempted to reply that
Page 14 and 15: Other writers have echoed the same
Page 16 and 17: sures be contained. The formation o
Page 18 and 19: placed may cause conflict with near
Page 21 and 22: CHAPTER 1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Th
Page 23 and 24: women and children, but he insisted
Page 25 and 26: medicine than could be absorbed by
Page 27 and 28: diverting relief assistance intende
Page 29 and 30: The conflict-prolonging effect was
Page 31: supplies are needed for military pu
Page 35 and 36: transship illicit goods like narcot
Page 37 and 38: the troops as their logistics line
Page 39 and 40: Similar questions arise from the ca
Page 41 and 42: opposite effect. However, this conc
Page 43 and 44: shortfalls and modify its negotiati
Page 45 and 46: of aid imbalances favoring the refu
Page 47 and 48: MSF was confronted with displaced L
Page 49 and 50: Some donors—the United States was
Page 51: ties. In some cases belligerents ma
Page 54 and 55: for belligerents. The capacity of b
Page 56 and 57: support humanitarian operations wit
Page 58 and 59: In an indication of how difficult i
Page 60 and 61: antagonism. The key appears to be k
Page 63 and 64: CHAPTER 4 HUMANITARIAN ACTION AND C
Page 65 and 66: of a new police force and army, and
Page 67 and 68: provided additional resources rapid
Page 69 and 70: accords in Guatemala made the flow
Page 71 and 72: occurred in the absence of the inte
Page 73 and 74: work Agreement]—the return of dis
Page 75 and 76: tance of coordination of policy amo
Page 77 and 78: lines in this area. The Japanese, C
Page 79 and 80: UNDP operation, became involved in
Page 81 and 82: on conflict. Similar institutional
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION This monograph
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would have happened in the absence
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ut because the principal impacts ar
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NOTES Introduction 1. Clare Short,
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International Capabilities for Prev
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children through the International
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Forum, ICRC, Geneva, June 1998, 4.
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30. As quoted in Philip Gourevitch,
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Chapter 4 1. Michael Pugh has descr
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Conflict (Paris: OECD DAC Informal
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APPENDIX I ACRONYMS BRC CIDA CIS Co
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APPENDIX II RESOURCES FOR FURTHER R
Page 108 and 109:
action and peacekeeping, and the ro
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