Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed

Before managing Sidaction's international initiatives, Claire Magone spent several years working with Action contre la Faim/Action Against Hunger and Doctors Without Borders. In 1999, Michal Neuman joined Doctors Without Borders. His research focuses on geopolitical concerns, immigration, and political analysis. In the Shadow of "Just Wars": Violence, Politics, and Humanitarian Action is edited by Fabrice Weissman, who has been a member of Médecins Sans Frontières since 1995. Each of the three editors is a director of studies at the Fondation Médecins Sans Frontières' Centre de réflexion sur l'action et les savoirs humanitaires.

Everyone agrees that our "humanitarian space" is getting smaller in the context of the so-called "clash of civilizations," including international NGOs, UN agencies, donors, and observers of humanitarianism. In other words, the radicalization of conflicts and the reaffirmation of state sovereignty over aid actors and programs are eroding the freedom of action and speech of humanitarians.

Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed's goal is to refute this idea by examining the significant events that have shaped MSF's history since 2003. (when MSF published its first general work on humanitarian action and its relationships with governments). It covers the development of humanitarian objectives, opposition to these objectives, and political arrangements that overcome this opposition (or that failed to do so). The authors analyze the political exchanges and power dynamics that support the advancement of aid initiatives but are typically hidden under the high rhetoric of "humanitarian values." What constitutes an acceptable compromise for MSF is their main concern.

Among the best books on humanitarian aid, Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed aims to dispel some of the myths that have developed in the forty years since the founding of MSF and goes into great depth about how the notions of humanitarian values and "humanitarian space" working in conflict areas are, in fact, false. How organizations like MSF may be able to operate in a particular crisis situation - or not - depending on the outcome of shady discussions with various stakeholders, each of whom has their own vested interests.

Author: Claire Magone, Michael Neuman and Fabrice Weissman

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Humanitarian-Negotiations-Revealed-MSF-Experience-ebook/dp/B00S4ZTSBA/

Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars (from 7 reviews)

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