Military and humanitarian actors: same fight?, 2000

01/07/2000

The transformation of the role of Western armies is seen by some as a "political revolution" where "force becomes protective of the dignity of peoples after having been that of state security". In parallel with this analysis, there is the major weakness of conventional and disarmed humanitarian aid, which cannot influence the roots of the crisis and which, in many cases, is powerless to witness the worst abuses against civilian populations. It is certainly this dual observation that makes the doctrine of "military-humanitarian" crisis management so attractive. However, are the military humanitarian actors? Are political, military and humanitarian forces united on the ground for the same single objective?