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Violence and Humanitarian Assistance: Reflections on an Intricate Relationship

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Contrary to what was expected, the end of the Cold War and bi-polar global politics did not signal the beginning of an era of peace and development. Instead, in the period from the 1980s till today, the world has experienced a dramatic increase in internal violent conflicts, which more than anything else can be characterised by their excessive human and societal costs in the form of casualties, displacement, dispossession and destruction of livelihood opportunities. One of the consequences of this turn in history has been a growing humanitarian engagement in conflict situations by the international community.

But the changes experienced by the international community have not simply been one of scaling up conventional operations. The new kinds of wars have required major organizational and operational adjustments. This paper focuses on one dimension of this process, namely the shifting relationship between violence and humanitarian action. It suggests that since humanitarianism is founded in an idea of being intrinsically and essentially benevolent, humanitarian organizations' real and imagined relationship with violence is critical for their self-understanding and wider legitimization in society, and hence worthy of in-depth consideration.