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Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience (Columbia/Hurst)
Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed The MSF Experience - Columbia/Hurst From international nongovernmental organizations to United Nations agencies, from donors to observers of humanitarian action, concerned leaders, policy makers, and everyday citizens generally believe the "humanitarian space" is rapidly shrinking. Reading a clash of civilizations into the radicalization of conflicts and the reaffirmation of state... more » sovereignty over aid actors and their policies, many feel humanitarians are no longer able to speak and act freely and that their ability to influence positive outcomes is sadly on the wane. This book challenges such assumptions through a balanced reassessment of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, over the past ten years, since the organization published its last general work on humanitarian action and its relationship to worldwide government. This volume addresses the evolution of humanitarian goals, the resistance of groups and states to these goals, and the political deals MSF has struck (or has failed to strike) to achieve its objectives. Contributors call attention to the political transactions and potentially unsavory negotiations aid workers must undertake to go forward with their plans, a truth often obscured by the lofty rhetoric of humanitarian literature. Contributors also explore what an acceptable compromise for MSF might be. They defeat a number of myths that have arisen since MSF's founding forty years ago, describing in rare detail how the concept of a protected "humanitarian space" is in fact an illusion. In reality, humanitarian organizations must negotiate with multiple, possibly opposing parties, each with its own interests and claims who may or may not allow humanitarian organizations to operate within their crisis zone.« less