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Everybody's War: The Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis
The Syrian crisis is one of the most serious humanitarian disasters in recent history. Yet the widely reported numbers--more than 6 million displaced, including 5 million refugees--reflect only a fractional toll of the conflict. Numerous international organizations, states, and civil society movements have called for the laws of war to be respected, sieges lifted, and humanitarian access facilitated. But beneath each of these humanitarian appeals lies a complicated reality extending beyond the binary narratives that have come to define the war in Syria.
Everybody's War examines the complexities of humanitarianism in Syria and the wide-ranging consequences for both Syria's populations and humanitarian responses to future conflicts. Organized by Médecins Sans Frontières, this edited volume brings together academics and humanitarian practitioners from across the globe to provide a multitude of perspectives on the politics of aid in the Syrian war. Contributors explore the humanitarian crisis behind the Syrian conflict through the history and fragmentation of Syrian health care, the role of international humanitarian law in enabling attacks on health facilities, and the lived experience of siege in all its layers. Further attention is given to the ways in which humanitarian actors have fed the war economy and joined the information wars that have raged throughout the region over the past ten years.
While the Syrian crisis has been everybody's war, it has certainly not been everybody's victory. This volume shares the intricate story of aid delivery and humanitarian complicity within one of the defining conflicts of the twenty-first century.
Everybody's War examines the complexities of humanitarianism in Syria and the wide-ranging consequences for both Syria's populations and humanitarian responses to future conflicts. Organized by Médecins Sans Frontières, this edited volume brings together academics and humanitarian practitioners from across the globe to provide a multitude of perspectives on the politics of aid in the Syrian war. Contributors explore the humanitarian crisis behind the Syrian conflict through the history and fragmentation of Syrian health care, the role of international humanitarian law in enabling attacks on health facilities, and the lived experience of siege in all its layers. Further attention is given to the ways in which humanitarian actors have fed the war economy and joined the information wars that have raged throughout the region over the past ten years.
While the Syrian crisis has been everybody's war, it has certainly not been everybody's victory. This volume shares the intricate story of aid delivery and humanitarian complicity within one of the defining conflicts of the twenty-first century.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2021
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February 24, 2022
This edited volume looks at the politics of humanitarian assistance in the Syrian Conflict, looking especially at the experiences of Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Several chapters frame the issue of health-care, noting that while in the West (and in international law), health care is seen as 'neutral' and 'apolitical', in Syria the governance and provision of healthcare have always been hotly contested. In intervening in health care, therefore, the international community was immediately seen as 'picking sides', a perception that was magnified greatly once the Syrian government blocked aid organizations, and they worked only on opposition sides.
The advocacy/communications strategies of international organizations (which typically require first-hand evidence gathering) meant that the organizations only spoke out from opposition areas against the government, but were relatively silent about abuses committed my opposition groups. When international organizations were forced to switch to remote management models following repeated security incidents, they loosened their requirements, and began to report based on second-hand information from opposition medical actors known to be partial in the conflict.
Interesting chapters also look at the issue of the bombing of medical facilities, comparing Syria to other contexts (Afghanistan and Yemen), and questioning the extent to which MSF 'speaking out' had any impact in the naming and shaming of perpetrators.
The advocacy/communications strategies of international organizations (which typically require first-hand evidence gathering) meant that the organizations only spoke out from opposition areas against the government, but were relatively silent about abuses committed my opposition groups. When international organizations were forced to switch to remote management models following repeated security incidents, they loosened their requirements, and began to report based on second-hand information from opposition medical actors known to be partial in the conflict.
Interesting chapters also look at the issue of the bombing of medical facilities, comparing Syria to other contexts (Afghanistan and Yemen), and questioning the extent to which MSF 'speaking out' had any impact in the naming and shaming of perpetrators.
Displaying 1 of 1 review