Crisis Caravan

By tdavy | Published April 10, 2019
 
I’ll be the first to admit that there were definitely some things I was ignorant about regarding the aid sector before beginning this course. I wasn’t disillusioned to believe that everything is sunshine and roses or that the humanitarian sector was the only area not riddled with corruption, but I figured that with so many well-intentioned people working towards a common goal, it couldn’t possibly be as nefarious as everything else in the world. Wrong! Through our weekly discussions and text I’ve come to denounce that view, and reading The Crisis Caravan by Linda Polman left me even more evaluative. I would love to say that the amount of influence that politics has over the humanitarian aid sector is baffling, but it’s not. As with most things, politics seep in and can influence how a sector functions. 
The passage before Polman references aid as a “permanent feature of military strategy,” she draws our attention to the fact that humanitarianism is linked to economics. “An entire industry has grown up around humanitarian aid, with cavalcades of organizations following the flow of money and competing with each other in one humanitarian territory after another for the biggest achievable share of billions (Polman 10).” We discussed in class how in times of war, aid organizations may be faced with appeasing the “enemy” enough so they are allowed to provide resources to those in need. Their presence alone inevitably causes an economic boom, while their supply to enemy factions almost ensures conflict will continue, and they will continue to be needed to assist those targeted as a result. Ultimately, both sides of warring parties can be hindered if aid organizations withdraw in these situations so the aid sector is comfortably positioned as both a catalyst and a remediator.
 
When we say “political,” I think in terms of what benefits the system in power and for America, and other powerful nations, that benefit can be as simple as generating goodwill. This speaks to the phrase ‘hearts and minds,’ because I think intentional acts of kindness can be used to garner favor from other potentially beneficial governments. This is why after a lot of consideration, I find it hard to think of an instance where aid is not political on either the side of the distributor or receiver of aid. The only instances I could think of are ones caused by natural disasters, where everyone needs help, but I even wonder if that is true? I feel like there would still be some underlying political interests there, even if not immediately exploited. But maybe I’m in a cynical head-space after the book. If that is the case, I think we can consider most aid work as influenced by either blatant or discrete political pursuits. The latter being more obvious, like when there are responses to genocides or refugee crises where being apolitical is almost impossible.
 
When thinking about aid work in terms of being a “force multiplier” or not, I think international aid organizations mostly are. I would definitely argue that the Peace Corps was a “force multiplier” in the Cold War, as well. A single nation in need could have thousands of INGO groups on the ground with hundreds representing the same nation. I would argue that even if there is no purposeful intention to push their countries agenda, their presence and assistance makes the nation they are helping more receptive to the political influence of the INGO’s government. On the domestic, micro-level, I think aid work is still used as a political force multiplier, but I would say it isn’t as influential.

Flintoft, Caroline. “Human Suffering as a Political Tool.” We Forum, 1 June 2018, www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/using-human-suffering-as-a-political-tool/.

Lischer, Sarah Kenyon. “Military Intervention and the Humanitarian ‘Force Multiplier.’” Global Governance, vol. 13, no. 1, 2007, pp. 99–118. JSTOR.

Polman, Linda. The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong with Humanitarian Aid? Translated by Liz Waters, Metropolitan Books, 2010.

SOC 376: “Being/Becoming a Global Citizen” (SOC 376: 2/6-4/3)

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