Yearly Archives: 2003
Two Steps Back: Relearning the Humanitarian-Military Lessons Learned in Afghanistan and Iraq
ABSTRACT
This paper examines how the relationship between the military and humanitarians has been affected by renewed activism; most notably in Afghanistan and Iraq. The first part of this paper presents background of the recent military and humanitarian operations in these countries. Given the efforts made to improve civil-military relations during the past decade, the contention is made that this relationship has take “two steps back” because of growing discord between the military and humanitarians, continuing lack of security, and frustration over the lack of progress in what are thought to be “lessons learned.” Second, five lessons learned in the relationship between the military and humanitarians is presented with a discussion of how each has been were ignored or relearned. Third, at least two emergent issues or “lessons” are discussed. The conclusion suggests further steps in improving the way the military and humanitarians interact and presents several questions worth further inquiry.
Armed Non-state Actors and the Ban on Antipersonnel Mines
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the efficacy of the Ottawa treaty as an instrument of arms control. The rationale for this rests with a belief that whilst Ottawa was a nobly principled exercise, there appears to be little meeting point between theoretical postulation and practical outcomes. The text intends to illustrate the nature of this dilemma by looking at Angola, noting that the country as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, is a signatory State Party to the Convention, and yet has abrogated both the spirit and the letter of the treaty by embarking on a new round of mine laying. It is put forward that disregard for legal strictures freely entered into by signatories renders the philosophy and applications of Ottawa unsafe, and thereby endangers the lives and well-being of those peoples the treaty was originally designed to protect.
Organizational Learning Curves, Angles and Lines: Recognizing Diverse Types of Learning in the United Nations
ABSTRACT
Beginning with the assertion that, despite intense criticism and some performance failures, humanitarian IGOs have learned and continue to learn from their responses to the conflicts of the first post-Cold War decade. Realizing that diverse types of learning—political, operational, contextual, relational, and normative—do not always complement each other, an organization may appear not to learn from past experience when in fact learning is taking place. The framework presented here specifically addresses IGOs and is designed to analyze what IGOs learn more than how they learn. This analytical framework synthesizes normative and ideational theory and the concept of organizational learning. The organizational learning framework presented here assumes that at some level learning takes place, both in preparation for and as a result of organizational activity, even if there is no evident application of that learning in future endeavors.
Unarmed Monitoring and Human Rights Field Presence: Civilian Protection and Conflict Prevention
ABSTRACT
This report is based on a one-day consultation attended by 35 experts with a broad range of experience in field missions with International Organizations and Non-governmental organizations in conflict zones experiencing significant human rights abuse of civilian populations. The objective of the consultation was to examine, informally, both intergovernmental and non-governmental experiments with medium to large-scale civilian unarmed monitoring in conflict situations, and whether expanding and improving the use of such monitoring missions could offer increased protection to civilian populations and moderate violent conflict. This analysis, and the consultation upon which it is based, focuses on large-scale missions with extended ground presence, as opposed to shorter investigative monitoring visits by human rights NGOs or governmental bodies. Sri Lank and Israel/Palestine are presented as case studies.
Humanitarian Agencies, Media and the War Against Bosnia: ‘Neutrality’ and Framing Moral Equalisation in a Genocidal War of Expansion
ABSTRACT
The author of this paper shares many of the concerns of the proponents of humanitarian values, not least the concern to preserve, in the general case, the impartiality and neutrality of humanitarian aid agencies. The focus of this paper is the reporting role played by humanitarian agencies. It examines their role in the sphere of political communication; specifically how certain agencies influenced the struggle over how the events of war were to be represented in mass media in the West. This paper will first elaborate a historical analysis of the Bosnian crisis and its international response. It then briefly outlines an argument about the critical role of Britain and its (TV news) media in the development of Western policy over Bosnia. The role of senior officials of UNHCR and the ICRC is then critically assessed in the context of the wider developments in the mediated conflict itself.