This book looks beyond the apparently united and generally self-congratulatory statements of The United Nations, other major multinational organisations and many large bilateral aid donors to examine what actually happened when they tried to work together in restoring stability and establishing governance in the territory.

The reconstruction of Kosovo after 1999 was one of the largest and most ambitious international interventions in a post-conflict country. The United Nations, other major multinational organisations and many large bilateral aid donors all played a role in restoring stability and establishing governance in the territory. This book looks beyond the apparently united and generally self-congratulatory statements of these international actors to examine what actually happened when they tried to work together in Kosovo to achieve this goal. It considers the interests and motivations, and the strengths and weaknesses of each of the major players and how they contributed to the creation of new institutions in public finance and public sector management. Although in general the international exercise in Kosovo can be seen as a success, in the sphere of public administration the results have been mixed. More than fifteen years later, some institutions of government perform well while others face ongoing challenges. The book argues that much of the current day performance of the Kosovo government can be traced to the steps taken, or not taken, by these international actors in the crucial first years.

In fragile states, domestic and international actors sometimes take the momentous step of sharing sovereign authority to provide basic public services and build the rule of law. While sovereignty sharing can help address gaps in governance, it is inherently difficult, risking redundancy, confusion over roles, and feuds between partners when their interests diverge. In Sovereignty Sharing in Fragile States, John D. Ciorciari sheds light on how and why these extraordinary joint ventures are created, designed, and implemented. Based on extensive field research in several countries and more than 150 interviews with senior figures from governments, the UN, donor states, and civil society, Ciorciari discusses when sovereignty sharing may be justified and when it is most likely to achieve its aims. The two, he argues, are closely related: perceived legitimacy and continued political and popular support are keys to success. This book examines a diverse range of sovereignty-sharing arrangements, including hybrid criminal tribunals, joint policing arrangements, and anti-corruption initiatives, in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Lebanon, Timor-Leste, Guatemala, and Liberia. Ciorciari provides the first comparative assessment of these remarkable attempts to repair ruptures in the rule of law—the heart of a well-governed state.

Throughout the 1990s, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) faced challenges posed by the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and a succession of outbreaks of political violence in Rwanda and in its neighbours. This book recounts the experiences of the MSF teams working in the field.

Interventions on behalf of Armenia and Armenians have come to be identified by scholars and practitioners alike as defining moments in the history of humanitarianism. This volume reassesses these claims, critically examining a range of interventions by governments, international and diasporic organizations, and individuals that aimed to ‘save Armenians’. Drawing on perspectives from a range of disciplines, the chapters trace the evolution of these interventions from the late-nineteenth to the present day, paying particular attention to the aftermaths of the genocide and the upheavals of the post-Soviet period. Geographically, the contributions connect diverse spaces and places – the Caucasus, Russia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, South America, and Australia – revealing shifting transnational networks of aid and intervention. These chapters are followed by reflections from leading scholars in the fields of refugee history and Armenian history, Peter Gatrell and Ronald Grigor Suny. Aid to Armenia not only offers an innovative exploration into the history of Armenia and Armenians and the history of humanitarianism, but it provides a platform for practitioners to think critically about contemporary humanitarian questions facing Armenia, the South Caucasus region and the wider Armenian diaspora.

This book provides fresh perspectives on a key period in the history of humanitarianism. Drawing on economic, cultural, social and diplomatic perspectives, it explores the scale and meaning of humanitarianism in the era of the Great War. Foregrounding the local and global dimensions of the humanitarian responses, it interrogates the entanglement of humanitarian and political interests and uncovers the motivations and agency of aid donors, relief workers and recipients. The chapters probe the limits of humanitarian engagement in a period of unprecedented violence and suffering and evaluate its long-term impact on humanitarian action.

The book traces the history of international aid from the anti-slavery movement to the end of the cold war. The reconstruction of humanitarianism’s long pattern unfolds around some crucial moments and events: the colonial expansion of European countries, the two world wars and their aftermaths, the emergence of a new postcolonial order.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This collection interrogates the representation of humanitarian crisis, catastrophe and care. Contributors explore the refraction of humanitarian intervention from the mid-twentieth century to the present across a diverse range of media forms, including screen media (film, television and online video), newspapers, memoirs, music festivals and social media platforms (notably Facebook, YouTube and Flickr). Examining the historical, cultural and political contexts that have shaped the mediation of humanitarian relationships since the middle of the twentieth century, the book reveals significant synergies between the humanitarian enterprise – the endeavour to alleviate the suffering of particular groups – and its media representations, particularly in their modes of addressing and appealing to specific publics.

This book investigates the digital transformation of aid as a form of humanitarian extractivism. It focuses on how practices of data extraction shift power towards states, the private sector and humanitarians. Digital initiatives aimed towards ‘fixing’ the humanitarian system, making it better and more secure, also create risk and harm for vulnerable individuals and communities. Central to the digital transformation of aid is the digital body – with digital identities becoming a prerequisite for receiving aid and protection – and the centralisation of vulnerability arising from enormous databases holding ever more humanitarian data. Cyber-attacks, human error and technological problems generate risks for humanitarians, but also mean that humanitarians themselves can put populations in need at risk. The book explores new humanitarian spaces and practices such as the humanitarian drone airspace, wearable innovation challenges and ethics in global disaster innovation labs.