Course: Negotiating “Humanitarian Space”: International Humanitarian Aid

Organizations in Conflict Zones

Instructor: Daniel Beaudoin

Mobile: 972 (0) 542512233
E-mail: daniel.beaudoin@strategic-expansion.com

Course Description:

Students in this course will develop an in depth understanding of the current themes and
polemic in the field of humanitarian aid, both at the theoretical levels of international political
theory as well as at the operational and practical implications of their work in the field. The
course will also provide a unique opportunity for critical reflection, analysis, and debate on the
negotiation approaches of INGOs working in development, relief, and advocacy contexts. A
significant factor in meeting humanitarian objectives, however, is the capacity of humanitarian
officials to negotiate access to beneficiaries and to secure protection both for recipients and for
staff in the context of often very sensitive political and military environments. The role of
humanitarian aid agencies is thought to be to save lives and ameliorate suffering. Whether or to
what extent humanitarian agencies achieve these goals can be due to a number of factors, from
a topography that might make communication and transport more or less easy, to the prevalence
of corruption and insecurity in distribution chains and to the increasingly politicized nature of
humanitarian aid.
 Objectives:

1. Trace the evolution of INGO’s and their role in International Relations Theory, with an
emphasis on transnational networks and global network theory.

2. Delineate the various institutionalized approaches of humanitarian aid in conflict zones.

3. Investigate the concept and international practice of humanitarian intervention (military

and non-military); circumstances, operations, controversies and moral dilemmas.

4. Clarify the extent to which humanitarian action has had an impact on the ground; are
humanitarian organizations better able to save and protect the lives of those at risk?
How is this impact measured?

5. Conduct a comparative case study of international humanitarian operations: OPT,

Afghanistan, Bosnia and Sudan, in order to gauge the impact the international aid
agencies have in fulfilling their missions. To what extent are they able to negotiate
“humanitarian space”? What lessons may be learned from this study with regard to the
process of negotiating humanitarian space?

Evaluation:

Term paper: 40%

Final Exam: 40%

Class participation: 20% ( bibliography and study modules)

Reading and study modules:

1. International Relations Theory and the Evolution of International Non-Governmental

Organizations

Introduction

Snydr, Jack (2004). One World, Rival Theories. Foreign Policy (November/December,):55-62.

Vasquez, John. (1999). The Power of Power Politics: From Classical Realism to
Neotraditionalism. Cambridge University Press. Ch.1-2.

The Realist Tradition

Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State and War, (NY: Columbia University Press, 1959). Ch. 1, Ch. 6.

From Realism to Liberalism

Baldwin, David (ed.). (1993). Neorealism and Neoliberalism Columbia University Press. Ch.1.

Michael Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 80
(December 1986): 1151-1169.

Collective Security

Claude, Inis. (1973). Power and International Relations. Ny: the free press.

International Regime and Integration Theory

Krasner, Stephen (ed.) 1984. International Regimes. Cornell University Press.

Mearsheimer, John. (1994/1995).The False Promise of International Institutions. International
Security, Vol.19, No. 3, Winter.

Nye, Joseph. (2004). Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public
Affairs

Pentland, Charles. (1983). International Theory and European Integration. Itahaca: Cornell
Univ. Press.
2. Multi sectoral networks

Benner, Thorsten, Wolfgang H. Reinicke., and Jan Martin Witte. (2002). Beyond
Multilateralism: Global Public Policy Networks. International Politics and Society Online.
Retrieved December 14, 2008, from http://www.fes.de/IPG/ipg2_2000/artwitte.html.

De Mars, William. (2005). NGO’s and Transnational Networks. Wild Cards in World Politics.
Pluto press.

Keck, Margaret & Sikkink, Katherine. (1998). Activists Beyond Borders. Advocacy Networks
in International Politics. Cornell University Press.

Sikkink, Katherine. (1998). Transnational politics, international relations theory, and human
rights: a new model of international politics is needed to explain the politics of human rights.
Political Science & Politics. American Political Science Association. Retrieved December 31,
2009, from http://www.jammoull.net/upprobe/uploads/dffe58c0a7.pdf

3. Accountability and Transparency

Benner, Thorsten, Wolfgang H. Reinicke., and Jan Martin Witte. (2004). Multisectoral
Networks in Global Governance: Towards a Pluralistic System of Accountability. Global Public
Policy Institute, Fritz Thyssen Foundation.

Bovens, Mark. (2005) Public Accountability: A Framework for the Analysis and Assessment of
Accountability Arrangements in the Public Domain. This paper is an adapted and extended
version of a chapter on public accountability which will be published in E. Ferlie, L. Lynne &
C. Pollitt (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, Oxford University Press. pp. 1-
12, pp. 15-19, pp. 22-24

4. Humanitarian Diplomacy

Minear, Larry. (2007). The Craft of Humanitarian Diplomacy. Humanitarian Diplomacy:

Practitioners and their Craft. Minear, Larry & Smith, Hazel. (eds.). United Nations University
Press. Ch. 1.

Smith, Hazel. (2007). Humanitarian Diplomacy: Theory and Practice. Humanitarian

Diplomacy: Practitioners and their Craft. Minear, Larry & Smith, Hazel. (eds.). United Nations
University Press. Ch. 2.

5. Moral Dilemmas

Anderson, Mary. (1998). “You Save my Life Today, But For What Tomorrow?” Some Moral
Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid. Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas in Humanitarian Intervention.
Moore, Jonathan. (ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.

Bradol, Jean-Herve. (2004). The Sacrificial International Order and Humanitarian Action.
Weissman, Fabrice (ed.) In the Shadow of ‘Just Wars’; Violence, Politics and Humanitarian
Action. Médecins sans Frontières.

Ignatief, Michael. (1998). Television and Humanitarian Aid. Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas in
Humanitarian Intervention. Moore, Jonathan. (ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.

Kiley, Sam. Do African Nations a Favor; Don’t Feed Them. Times online, October 23, 2009
Luttwak, Edward N. (1999). Give War a Chance. Foreign Affairs. 78, 4. Retrieved December
21, 2009 from http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~jwestern/ps62/edward_n_luttwak.htm

Mikolajuk, Christine. (2005). Thanks, But no Thanks: The Other Face of International
Humanitarian Aid. Harvard International Review. 26 (4) – Winter. Retrieved December 31,
2009, from http://hir.harvard.edu/index.php?page=article&id=1291

6. Humanitarian Practitioners: Small “D” Negotiating

Anderson, Mary. (1996). Humanitarian NGO's in Conflict Intervention. Managing Global

Chaos. Chester Crocker, Fen Hampson and Pamela Aall, (eds). Washington, D.C.: United
States Institute of Peace Press. Retrieved January 1, 2010 from
http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/ande1058.htm

Arbuckle V, James. (2006). Military forces in 21st Century Peace Operations. No Job for a
Soldier? pp. 5-7, pp. 31-37, pp. 74-82. Contemporary Security Studies. Routledge.

Chandler, David. (2002). From Kosovo to Kabul; Human Rights and International Intervention.
Pluto Press. pp. 21-52.

Lupton-Bowers, Pamela. (2003). Teamwork in Humanitarian Missions. Cahill, Kevin (ed.)

Basics of International Humanitarian Missions. New York: Press. Retrieved 31 December,
2009 from http://fordham.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1000&context=human_affairs

Mancini-Griffoli, Deborah, and Picot, André (2004). Humanitarian Negotiation: A Handbook

for Securing Access, Assistance and Protection for Civilians in Armed Conflict. Geneva: Centre
for Humanitarian Dialogue. pp 1-39. Available at http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-
Library/Publications/Detail/?id=26970
McHugh, Gerard, and Bessler, Manuel. (2006). Humanitarian Negotiation with Armed groups:
A Manual. New York: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Available at
http://ochaonline.un.org/humanitariannegotiations/index.html