{"product_id":"syria-and-the-neutrality-trap-9780755641390","title":"Syria and the Neutrality Trap","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCarsten Wieland\u003c\/b\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eSyria: A Decade of Lost Chances\u003c\/i\u003e (2012), \u003ci\u003eSyria - Ballots or Bullets \u003c\/i\u003e(2006) and \u003ci\u003eSyria at Bay: Secularism, Islamism, and Pax Americana \u003c\/i\u003e(2006).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHats 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 *\u003cbr\u003eWieland 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 *\u003cbr\u003eA 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\u003cbr\u003eA 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\u003cbr\u003eThis 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\u003cbr\u003eThe 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) \u0026amp; SciencesPo, Paris, France\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eForeword Abbreviations\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cb\u003e1. Introduction to a Tough Dilemma\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e 2. Expectations and Disillusions Beyond Syria\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e 3. Containing the Human Beast: Fundamentals of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law\u003c\/b\u003e  The Government’s Particular Responsibility State-centred International Practice Neutrality and Impartiality Countries’ Controversial Consent  \u003cb\u003e4. A Moving Target: Dynamics of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law\u003c\/b\u003e Law or War An Octopus with Dwindling Force Contested Notions of State Sovereignty  \u003cb\u003e5. The Terrorism Tool: De-humanizing the Other\u003c\/b\u003e The Sin of Rage at Ground Zero The Myth of the Unlawful Combatant Poisonous Rhetoric A Self-fulfilling Prophecy    \u003cb\u003e6. De-Neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus \u003c\/b\u003e 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 \u003cb\u003e 7. In the Pillory: The UN’s Syria Dilemma\u003c\/b\u003e Complicity with Evil  Contracting Dangerous Bedfellows Between All Fronts  \u003cb\u003e8. Credibility Crisis\u003c\/b\u003e The UN Reacts Donors React  \u003cb\u003e9. Diversifying Aid: Roads to Circumvent Damascus\u003c\/b\u003e “Humanitarian Plus” A Double-edged Sword The Reconstruction Gamble  \u003cb\u003e10. Irreconcilable Positions: Roads to Nowhere\u003c\/b\u003e Fig Leaf for Political Failure Double Deficiency  Russia’s Soft Power Failure Contempt for Multilateralism \u003cb\u003e 11. Arguments for Change: How to Avoid the Neutrality Trap\u003c\/b\u003e Conclusion     Bibliography  Index","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48737164788055,"sku":"9780755641390","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780755641390.jpg?v=1723811021","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/syria-and-the-neutrality-trap-9780755641390","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}