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There is a growing literature about the international community’s ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (r2p) vulnerable populations against mass atrocities, but more is needed to demonstrate the potential of principled negotiation strategies to improve the quality of r2p outcomes. Proponents of the r2p principle base their arguments on the primacy of protecting human life against mass atrocities. Opponents claim national state sovereignty and non-intervention norms must be upheld. This norm contestation often leads to a situation where r2p is either not implemented or military interventions are conducted as a last resort. From an ethical and human rights perspective, both extremes are suboptimal to prevent and reduce human suffering. This article argues that to avoid both extremes, more effective negotiation strategies are needed. An analytical framework is offered that can guide policymakers in their quest to protect human life with peaceful and humanitarian means focusing on prevention under already existing r2p mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Displacement significantly disrupts physical environments, social structures, and personal identities, profoundly impacting people's well‐being. Recent studies indicate that displacement can also reshape gender dynamics, highlighting the potential of displacement to transform traditional roles and relationships. Purpose: This study investigates the transformative impact of displacement on gender roles in the context of the Za'atari camp in Jordan. Specifically, it examines how humanitarian aid and forced displacement converge to alter gender relations and enhance women's autonomy. Approach and Methods: The research draws on qualitative interviews with 15 women residing in the Za'atari camp. By exploring their experiences, the study aims to understand how displacement can act as a catalyst for empowerment and self‐sufficiency, despite the inherent challenges faced by these women. Findings: The study reveals that displacement increases independence and self‐awareness, and improves decision‐making among women, facilitating their active participation in society. Humanitarian interventions, particularly educational and vocational programmes, play a crucial role in empowering women by improving self‐confidence, communication skills, and legal awareness. These initiatives also provide access to the labour market, challenging traditional gender norms. Policy Implications: Despite the positive impacts, significant obstacles persist. Women often assume greater responsibilities as primary breadwinners, which can erode their control within personal spheres and increase vulnerabilities. Traditional norms continue to hinder complete gender parity. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive and sustainable humanitarian interventions to support and sustain positive changes in gender dynamics in displacement settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the gendered securitisation of humanitarianism through the lens of Venezuelan women who have fled to Brazil, as part of the largest migration flow in South America. By the end of 2022, the number of displaced Venezuelans had grown to seven million, half of whom were women and girls. Alongside humanitarian programmes, measures of migration control, policing and deterrence are now routinely implemented. This article explores the interplay between securitised policies and humanitarian programmes in the everyday experience of rights of Venezuelan migrant women and girls. We ask: what happens when migrant women reach Brazil, a supposed place of safety? Do they experience rights restitution and protection, or do they continue to be subject to everyday gendered humiliations? Building on fieldwork in Boa Vista and Manaus in 2020–2022, we explore migrant women and girls' experiences with shelter and healthcare, two central pillars of humanitarian programmes. Contributing directly to literatures on migration management, humanitarianism and control, this article focuses on 'the receiving end' of securitised humanitarian practices and deploys a gender lens to reveal how securitised humanitarianism reproduces disciplinary dynamics of governance and creates gendered risks and vulnerabilities that erode migrant women and girl's rights and agency in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes Clinton's decision to intervene in Bosnia in 1995. The methodology used is a historical analysis of primary and secondary source material and an interpretation of that material. The available evidence shows that after not intervening in Rwanda, Clinton evolved toward a more assertive foreign policy. Clinton eventually fought against pressures to employ a containment strategy in Bosnia, pushed to lift the arms embargo on the Bosnian Muslims, and strike at the Bosnian Serbs. After multiple failed attempts at diplomacy to accomplish these goals, Clinton managed to achieve his objectives through indirect methods. He set the stage for a major military offensive against Bosnian Serb forces before the massacre at Srebrenica, which is an important correction to the traditional narrative on the topic. Clinton then initiated a massive U.S.-led bombing campaign, achieved military objectives, negotiated a peace agreement, and deployed U.S. troops to enforce the peace agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Palestine Studies’ special issue on infrastructure, environment, and health in Palestine sheds new light on the conditions and possibilities of politics. Although it is commonly viewed as “an entity ostensibly separate from technology and other human constructions,” the environment is in fact a particular configuration of “socio-technical arrangements.” The special issue’s four articles and two reflection essays—by Nadi Abusaada, Leena Dallasheh, Samir Harb, Cristina Violante, Nimrod Ben Zeev, and Emily McKee—span historical periods from Ottoman-ruled Palestine to the contemporary era. Hailing from the fields of history, architecture, anthropology, and legal theory, the contributors draw on original archival, spatial, and ethnographic research to parse the realities, experiences, and lessons that Palestine offers beyond its status as a site of settler-colonial deprivation and toxicity. Together they demonstrate that infrastructure, environment, and health are fundamentally and irrefutably political. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bio-medical model of 'mental health' and 'mental illness' that relates to the relationship between wellbeing and distress informs psychopathology and dominates conceptualisation in many Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic (WEIRD) populations. This paper aims to critique the model, questioning the appropriateness of psychopathology as a conceptual framework when working as a Western trained clinician with populations such as in China, Japan, Asia, the Middle-East and Africa. The paper also considers the cultural appropriateness of western notions of psychopathology when working inter-culturally in relation to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, and the Review of the Implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the role of intersubjective and situated meanings and norm contestation for militarised humanitarian interventions from a critical perspective. The International Relations (ir) literature on humanitarian interventions, the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, and emergence of norms is explained and critically evaluated. The case analysed here is Turkey and its foreign policy discourse regarding interventions in Libya and Syria. Based on the case and literature review, the author concludes that critical approaches particularly provide useful tools to understand the role of identity, changing foreign policy narratives, and power constellations in world politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyzes Clinton's decision to not intervene in the Rwandan genocide. The methodology used is a historical analysis and interpretation of primary and secondary source material. Clinton admitted that not intervening in the Rwandan genocide was one of the greatest regrets of his presidency. There was not a substantial amount of domestic support for an intervention into Rwanda and Clinton did not attempt to use his influence to change that disposition. Clinton did not attempt to change domestic sentiments due to his priorities of reduced funding for foreign operations and the avoidance of 'mission creep.' The most common fault in the current historiography is the claim that Clinton did not intervene in Rwanda because of the failed mission that had recently occurred in Somalia, which does not align with the available evidence. Upon leaving office, he accepted ownership of his poor decisions and expressed sincere regret. 本研究分析了克林顿总统在卢旺达大屠杀中采取的不干预决策。使用历史分析法并对原始资料和次级文献加以诠释。克林顿承认，未干预卢旺达大屠杀一事是其在位期间最大的遗憾。彼时就干预卢旺达大屠杀一事并没有大量的国内支持，并且克林顿没有试图使用其影响力来改变这一倾向。鉴于其将重点聚焦于减少外交行动所需资金和避免"使命偏离"，克林顿也没有试图改变国内情绪。当前历史编篡学中最常见的错误论断则是，克林顿因之前在索马里的行动失败而并未干预卢旺达大屠杀，但这与可获得的证据不一致。任期结束时，克林顿承认了其糟糕的决策并表达了由衷的遗憾。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to scientific and historical accounts, artistic and media texts also construct stories of significant events, thus constructing ideologically charged narratives of present and past events. These narratives can become official versions of the past that shape collective memory and identity. Unlike history books, which are written with a greater time distance, media and artistic texts directly influence the formation of narratives about current events and therefore the self-confidence and self-understanding of the collective. Based on an interest in the question of how identity is formed in today's Serbia, this article deals with media and artistic texts that speak about one of the most significant events in Serbia’s recent history - the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Opinions about this event are divided, and the totality of information about the bombing seems unknowable. To establish a more objective approach to this issue, the images of the bombing created by foreign media and artists are analyzed from the point of view of Memory Studies and through theories of arts and media (Assmann, Hartman, Felman, Laub, Kuljić), primarily using content and linguistic discourse analysis (Foucault, Spitzmüller, Warnke). The analysis has shown that most of the analyzed media texts justify the bombing, while all artworks criticize and condemn it. This has led us to the conclusion that that the bombing wasn’t justified, and that media texts on the subject served as political propaganda. In other words, artistic texts have a greater potential for social and political criticism than the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we use the notion of legitimacy to analyse shifts in global humanitarian interventions since the 1990s, culminating in the contested adoption of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework under the United Nations umbrella in 2005. We assess how this important shift was disputed with narratives of protection and interference, and argue that the engagement of nonhegemonic actors (specifically Brazil and Russia) with the scope of humanitarian protection has influenced the substantive legitimacy of this global governance issue over the past three decades by creating a norm-making process in which the fundamental features of humanitarianism have been tested and challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since early 2016, part of the Malian urban refugees living in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, have to "capitalize" on their refugee status to make ends meet. By examining when, why, and how the refugee status transmutes into an economic asset, this article shows how the possibilities to negotiate with the refugee category vary significantly within this group of forced migrants. Indeed, categories are not only imposed on people, but are negotiated by the actors themselves in their interactions and within their social and political economies. My article shows how the refugees' ability or possibility to participate in the co-construction of their category is shaped by both the social and political context in which they are, as well as by wider intersectional and structural dynamics in which their lives are situated, such as socio-economic class, gender and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-Cold War, various conflicts provoked humanitarian catastrophes and threatened international peace. International society responded through different forms of humanitarian interventions that questioned sovereignty and the principle of nonintervention, fundamental pillars of the international order. This article identifies and characterizes the different humanitarian responses of international society: Peace Operations, unilateral interventions, and the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). It also examines how Latin American countries position themselves in front of these actions and the RtoP, analyzing whether these countries have reached minimal agreements, and whether they present a common position within the United Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost‐effectiveness analysis is increasingly relevant in humanitarian action. The cost of response has increased exponentially in the past decade, alongside concurrent donor budget restrictions. However, there remains limited comprehension and application of these methods in this field. This paper documents methods developed for use within Action Against Hunger, an international humanitarian organisation, in response to a lack of understanding of this topic within the humanitarian community and limited evidence of the cost‐effectiveness of humanitarian action. These methods encompass costs to both implementing institutions and participating communities. Activity‐based cost analyses are conducted to assess resources per programme activity. Cost‐effectiveness is evaluated using successful programme outcomes, and uncertainty is appraised via sensitivity analysis. This paper aims to advance knowledge, stimulate discussion, and promote the adoption of cost‐effectiveness methods for building the evidence base for humanitarian action, including consideration of community costs, to enable analytical outputs that are useful for managers and policymakers alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanitarian interventions are response of the international community to grave violations of human rights involving military action of one or more States with or without the authorisation of the United Nations Security Council. There are several issues related to humanitarian interventions that are discussed by legal scholars, political scientists and diplomatic circles with regard to the use of armed force as a response to human rights violations - the issue of sovereignty of States, principle of non-intervention and unilateral use of force and justification of military interventions without the authorisation of the UN Security Council even when the interventions are aimed at protecting human rights of a civilian population. This paper discusses humanitarian interventions from the perspective of international law primarily in light of the UN Charter and the role of the UN Security Council in maintaining international peace and security. It examines the concept of state sovereignty, human rights and the application of international humanitarian law to sides in the conflict including those conducting a humanitarian intervention in order to prevent additional suffering of civilians. It provides a brief overview of the humanitarian interventions carried out as a response to armed conflicts in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual and gender based violence may result in a range of destructive consequences to the individual, their family and the wider community. Addressing such violence and its immediate aftermath in circumstances of civil turmoil requires a timely, planned and coordinated multidisciplinary response. Such interventions need to be cognisant of, and address a range of challenges which might include economic barriers, religious and cultural divides, a dearth of respect for human rights and limited access or capacity of medical, policing and legal services. In addition to addressing the immediate humanitarian prerogatives of health and safety issues, further objectives include the provision of support and justice for victims and the goal of ending impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence. Forensic medicine and its practitioners have the potential to make significant contributions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the aftermath of displacement caused by natural calamities such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and man-made disasters such as war, ecological degradations, and political, religious, and ethnic persecution. These are traumatic events for individual, families, and communities that require social work interventions. Specifically, the authors will (a) explore the effects of displacement on individuals, families, and communities; (b) propose an explanatory model of the effects of trauma, loss, stress, and separation on behavioral outcomes as mediated by social supports and coping styles; and (c) suggest humanitarian intervention strategies conceptualized by the multilevel public health prevention model, with emphasis on interventions at the individual, group, and community levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the democratic control and legitimacy of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) have thus far mostly focused on formal institutions. However, a comprehensive analysis requires including the ‘sociocultural infrastructure’ in which such formal institutions are embedded. Students of democracy have argued that the public sphere is a crucial dimension, if not a precondition for all mechanisms of democratic control in general. This paper investigates whether and in which ways Europeans participated in transnational European communication on humanitarian military interventions (1990–2005/2006). The paper analyzes a full sample of 108,677 newspaper articles published in leading newspapers of six EU member states, and the US as a comparative case. It demonstrates that the ‘national’ arenas of political communication are intertwined and allow ordinary citizens to make up their minds about common European issues in the highly controversial and normatively sensitive realm of humanitarian military interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The war in Libya of 2011 is generally portrayed as yet more evidence of the European Union (EU)'s inability to formulate a coordinated foreign policy. While the crisis took place in the EU's backyard, joint foreign policy action was hindered by member states' disagreements on whether or not to establish a no-fly zone in Libya. While this is true of political decision-makers, this paper investigates whether governmental decisions were reflected in similar divisions in national news media or whether references to European identity and criticism of European disunity transcended national media boundaries. Comparing a total of 6746 newspaper articles from Germany, France, the UK, Austria and the USA, the findings show that intergovernmental differences did not lead to similarly divided public spheres. Public debates in France, Germany and Austria constantly referred to a European foreign policy identity, though EU identity references were largely absent from UK newspapers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multifunctional peace operations have become an integral part of international society to the extent that they are now one of the major regulating institutions of international relations. The United Nations (UN) is the main player in setting up such operations. The UN has seen a major but gradual evolution of its role in maintaining and establishing peace. Having developed peacekeeping as a form of impartial interposition between belligerents during the Suez Crisis in 1956, the UN has continually broadened its sphere of action. These cumbersome and complex operations are demanding and present the UN with a number of challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critics of the Obama administration's ‘reset’ with Russia claim that it has failed to improve bilateral relations and has conceded too much to Russia at the expense of American interests. In fact, the reset has delivered significant improvements in key areas and established the institutional basis for continued cooperation in the future, benefiting both states. Although disagreements remain on several important issues including missile defence, humanitarian intervention, and democracy, the reset has been broadly successful on its own terms, which were always limited in scope and based on a pragmatic recognition of the limits of possible cooperation. Future progress is uncertain, however – obstacles include differences of national interest; the complicating effects of relations with third party states and the impact of domestic politics. A continuation of the pragmatic approach underpinning the reset represents the best chance for stability in the US–Russia relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The global discourse on ‘winning hearts and minds’, engages the USA, local governments, and international actors in liberal peace building in conflict-affected settings. In north-western Pakistan, the Pakistani government supports this discourse by claiming to pursue a 3-pronged strategy based on dialogue, development, and deterrence. This paper examines how peace-building activities have been practiced in north-western Pakistan in relation to development and humanitarian interventions that support community needs. Field data were gathered in Swat and Peshawar valleys between September 2010 and February 2011, through semi-structured interviews that covered peace-building efforts in the form of local perceptions of development and humanitarian interventions, perspectives on development schemes, aid priorities, and the relationship between aid and security. Furthermore, the paper relies on secondary data sources such as development and humanitarian response plans, research briefs, and news events. The paper closely examines the dynamics of liberal peace building in terms of humanitarian aid operations and development activities in north-western Pakistan. Empirical evidence from the region highlights the conflations in liberal peace concerning the imbalances in policies, plans, and activities in north-western Pakistan. The large disconnect between liberal peace building and effective development policies and practices in north-western Pakistan reflects the diverse interests of different actors, states, development and humanitarian response actors and elites, in problematizing issues. The paper concludes that the liberal peace agenda has contributed to securitization of development assistance in the region, which in turn has significantly limited the impact of development assistance to crisis-affected communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the rising numbers of crises in urban settings, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is currently shifting its focus from 'why' it should intervene to 'how' it should intervene effectively in these contexts. Beyond communities affected by natural disasters and epidemics, MSF has chosen to target populations in urban settings that are affected by violence or by marginalisation and neglect: these groups appear to suffer the greatest number of severe threats to their health and well-being. Recent reflection within MSF has identified a number of key operational challenges to confront in order to respond efficiently to the needs of these populations. These include: appropriate assessments; measurable indicators of vulnerability and impact; pertinent operational approaches and medical strategies; adapted security management; and responsible closure of activities. This paper summarises the main lessons learned from working in urban settings with the principal aim of mutual sharing and understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow-onset disasters such as droughts usually occur with such frequency that people have no time to recover before the onset of the next drought. All members of the community suffer as a result of recurrent droughts, but the effects are often more severe on vulnerable groups such as children, elderly people, and some women. This paper uses the experiences of the relief organisation Kujenga Maisha East Africa (KUMEA) to understand the importance of looking beyond gender in humanitarian interventions. Here we focus on the importance of understanding the socio-economic and political context surrounding the drought and the associated humanitarian interventions, using a feminist lens to assess power relations. This includes looking into the aspects of vulnerability and resourcefulness in the context of food security, food distribution, nutrition, and livelihood assistance. Such knowledge is vital in improving existing approaches to gender programming in humanitarian organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of humanitarian efforts to the development and implementation of Russia's foreign policy in a time of increased globalization. The author begins by charting the development of the human rights principle and its role in the formation of a world order. He goes on to relate the notion of human security to a form of soft power, which does not use the implementation of military force to achieve international power. Security is characterized by adequate living standards, food security, and protection from violence. The author explains how a focus on human security can be combined with Russia's own understanding of its national interest.

In the protracted Colombian conflict, assistance to internally displaced persons has developed in the context of contradictory political processes. The Colombian government's launching of a transitional justice process in the midst of armed conflict has generated a complex situation displaying both conflict and post-conflict characteristics. The progressive Constitutional Court rulings on internal displacement, in particular the gender-sensitive Auto 092, constitute an attempt to bring together humanitarian interventions and transitional justice measures in a rights-based framework. However, the national government is reluctant to adopt them fully and local realities still hamper their integrated implementation. Displaced women, therefore, remain in an especially vulnerable position. This paper argues that gender-sensitive humanitarian interventions must take into account all of these complexities of scale and political process in order to make legal frameworks more effective at the local level. In these contexts, interventions should pay particular attention to strategies that contribute to transforming pre-existing gender regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]