David Rieff

"Timely and controversial, this book reveals how humanitarian organizations are
often betrayed and misused, and have increasingly lost sight of their purpose.
Drawing on firsthand reporting from war zones around the world, Reiff shows us
what aid workers do in the field and the growing gap between their noble
ambitions and their actual capabilities for alleviating suffering. He describes
how many humanitarian organizations have moved from their founding principle of
neutrality, which gave them access to victims, to encouraging the international
community to take actions to stop civil wars and ethnic cleansing. By calling
for intervention, humanitarian organizations risk being seen as taking sides in
a conflict and thus jeopardizing their access to victims. And by overreaching,
the humanitarian movement has allowed itself to be hijacked by the major powers
.Rieff concludes that if humanitarian organizations are to do what they do best
- alleviate suffering - they must reclaim their independence.… (altro)