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Guerres humanitaires: mensonges et intox (Conversations pour demain)
À l’heure où le sombre désir de guerre retentit jusqu’en Europe, Rony Brauman, penseur exigeant et intransigeant, nous aide à débusquer faux prétextes et pièges dangereux tendus par des dirigeants belliqueux. Affirmant qu’il n’existe pas de « guerres humanitaires », il nous appelle à la méfiance face aux prétentions occidentales à imposer les valeurs démocratiques par la force. Son livre chez Textuel Humanitaire, le dilemme, a inauguré la collection "Conversations pour demain" et a été le plus « long-seller » de la collection.
- GenresNonfiction
114 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 31, 2018
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June 13, 2019
Having heard Rony Brauman talk about the book in MSF (although in French which I do not speak very well), I was ready to be skeptical about it. I wanted to dislike it because of his position on Libya and came to read it with some hostility.
It wasn't what I feared. The book, a conversation with Régis Meyran, is interesting in its focus on the lies and propaganda of humanitarian interventions from Libya to Somalia to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The book puts down a good criteria for what is a just war, one is I have read before (proportionality, last resort, chance of success) and tries to measure whether the wars mentioned are legal and/or just.
I agree mostly with the chapters on Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan but find it difficult to deal with the one on Libya. Brauman vehemently rejects the arguments used for the Western intervention to depose Gaddafi and puts clearly where the law was exploited by the West and how they stretched their mandate using false pretences and lies. I do not disagree with that part. But two things I feel Rony misses badly: one, is he doesn't even touch on the alternative of the vile dictator winning the war and establishing his power even further and even longer. An ethical position that doesn't consider the alternatives and compare the cost of them on the people is a sophist position that can only be uttered by someone who didn't live a day of his life under a dictatorship. The privilege of Brauman shows way too clearly here. The second problem is that he doesn't even try to consider the wants and needs of the Libyan people: Would they have preferred the West to stay out of their affairs or to help them depose the dictator that has destroyed the lives of two generations of Libyans.
Anyhow, like with Chomsky's "conversations" books, this is more shallow than it should be given the size and audience. It lacks the depth required to tackling such issues but can serve as a side of the argument that needs to be had.
It wasn't what I feared. The book, a conversation with Régis Meyran, is interesting in its focus on the lies and propaganda of humanitarian interventions from Libya to Somalia to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The book puts down a good criteria for what is a just war, one is I have read before (proportionality, last resort, chance of success) and tries to measure whether the wars mentioned are legal and/or just.
I agree mostly with the chapters on Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan but find it difficult to deal with the one on Libya. Brauman vehemently rejects the arguments used for the Western intervention to depose Gaddafi and puts clearly where the law was exploited by the West and how they stretched their mandate using false pretences and lies. I do not disagree with that part. But two things I feel Rony misses badly: one, is he doesn't even touch on the alternative of the vile dictator winning the war and establishing his power even further and even longer. An ethical position that doesn't consider the alternatives and compare the cost of them on the people is a sophist position that can only be uttered by someone who didn't live a day of his life under a dictatorship. The privilege of Brauman shows way too clearly here. The second problem is that he doesn't even try to consider the wants and needs of the Libyan people: Would they have preferred the West to stay out of their affairs or to help them depose the dictator that has destroyed the lives of two generations of Libyans.
Anyhow, like with Chomsky's "conversations" books, this is more shallow than it should be given the size and audience. It lacks the depth required to tackling such issues but can serve as a side of the argument that needs to be had.
Displaying 1 of 1 review