Description
Book SynopsisCarsten Wieland is a German diplomat, senior UN consultant, Middle East and conflict expert with high-ranking mediation experience. He has served with three UN Special Envoys for Syria as Senior Expert for Intra-Syrian Talks and political advisor. He has also worked on political responses to the Syrian conflict for the German Foreign Office and as Director of the German Information Center for the Arab World in Cairo. A journalist by training, he reported from the United States, the Middle East and Latin America as a foreign correspondent. He was a Government Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), Geneva, and a fellow at the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. His publications include
Syria: A Decade of Lost Chances (2012),
Syria - Ballots or Bullets (2006) and
Syria at Bay: Secularism, Islamism, and Pax Americana (2006).
Trade ReviewHats off to Wieland for giving us food for thought at this critical crossroad in the evolution of humanitarian aid. I hope it leads the UN, donors, and humanitarian organizations to reflect seriously about how they can change their approach to delivering humanitarian aid during an armed conflict before we repeat the deadly mistakes of Syria. * The Middle East Journal *
Wieland deserves ample praise for his decision to write a book that catalogs in exhausting detail the failings of an institution he admires so much. One hopes that his former colleagues understand the book as an effort to strengthen United Nations, not embarrass it. * War on the Rocks *
A masterpiece, this book is a riveting call for action to prevent governments that massacre their own citizens from directing who shall, and who shall not, receive donor-funded life-saving emergency help. -- Jeffrey Feltman, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs 2012-2018
A highly interesting and original study based on many years of practical and intensive experience of Carsten Wieland, who served as a diplomat and an academic, dealing with the Middle East, Syria in particular, also in the intra-Syrian negotiations under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy for Syria. This book clearly explains the complicated juridical, humanitarian and political dimensions of the various dilemmas of delivering humanitarian aid during wars. Wieland provides an authoritative guide on how to better deal with delicate humanitarian issues, like those in Syria. It should be highly recommended reading for politicians, humanitarian negotiators, people active in the field of humanitarian aid and other decision makers. -- Nikolaos van Dam, Former Ambassador of the Netherlands and author of Destroying a Nation: The Civil War in Syria
This in an extraordinary book on humanitarian law and practice in the Syria conflict. By a scholar-practitioner with many years of experience studying Syria and acting as advisor to the UN mediator on the country, it is a model of how theoretical concerns and practical experience in policy making can cross fertilize each other. -- Raymond Hinnebusch, Professor of International Relations, University of St Andrews Centre for Syrian Studies, UK
The most convincingly argued call yet to take international humanitarian aid out of the control of unaccountable governments that use sovereignty as a pretext - the ultimate exposure of sovereignty as fake neutrality. -- Eberhard Kienle, Research Professor at the Centre des recherches internationales (CERI), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) & SciencesPo, Paris, France
Table of ContentsForeword Abbreviations 1. Introduction to a Tough Dilemma 2. Expectations and Disillusions Beyond Syria 3. Containing the Human Beast: Fundamentals of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law The Government’s Particular Responsibility State-centred International Practice Neutrality and Impartiality Countries’ Controversial Consent
4. A Moving Target: Dynamics of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law Law or War An Octopus with Dwindling Force Contested Notions of State Sovereignty
5. The Terrorism Tool: De-humanizing the Other The Sin of Rage at Ground Zero The Myth of the Unlawful Combatant Poisonous Rhetoric A Self-fulfilling Prophecy
6. De-Neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus The Government’s Grip on Humanitarian Work Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s Plight in a Totalitarian System Western Diplomats’ Dilemma Cross-Border Controversies in the Security Council
7. In the Pillory: The UN’s Syria Dilemma Complicity with Evil Contracting Dangerous Bedfellows Between All Fronts
8. Credibility Crisis The UN Reacts Donors React
9. Diversifying Aid: Roads to Circumvent Damascus “Humanitarian Plus” A Double-edged Sword The Reconstruction Gamble
10. Irreconcilable Positions: Roads to Nowhere Fig Leaf for Political Failure Double Deficiency Russia’s Soft Power Failure Contempt for Multilateralism
11. Arguments for Change: How to Avoid the Neutrality Trap Conclusion Bibliography Index
