A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis

Rieff, David:

ISBN 10: 0099597918 / ISBN 13: 9780099597919

Published by Vintage, 2002

About this Item

384 S. Gutes Exemplar, geringe Gebrauchsspuren, Cover/SU berieben/bestoßen, innen alles in Ordnung. Z250905ah31 ISBN: 9780099597919 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 321.

Seller Inventory # 737878

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis
• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0099597918
• ISBN 13: 9780099597919
• Binding: Softcover Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Paperback Printing.
• Condition: Gut
• Weight: 321 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Romane/Erzählungen: Erzählungen, Romane, Essays

About this title

Synopsis

Timely and controversial, A Bed for the Night reveals how humanitarian organizations trying to bring relief in an ever more violent and dangerous world are often betrayed and misused, and have increasingly lost sight of their purpose.

Drawing on first-hand reporting from hot war zones around the world - Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, Kosovo, Sudan and, most recently, Afghanistan - David Rieff shows us what humanitarian aid workers do in the field and the growing gap between their noble ambitions and their actual capabilities for alleviating suffering. Tracing the origins of major humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and CARE, he describes how many of them have moved from their founding principle of neutrality, which gave them access to victims, to encouraging the international community to take action to stop civil wars and ethnic cleansing.

Rieff demonstrates how this advocacy has come at a high price. By overreaching, the humanitarian movement has allowed itself to be hijacked by the major powers, sometimes to become a fig leaf for actions that major powers take in their own national interests, as in Afghanistan, sometimes for their inaction, as in Bosnia and Rwanda. With the exception of cases of genocide, where the moral imperative to act overrides all other considerations, Rieff contends that if humanitarian organisations are to continue doing what they do best - alleviating suffering - they must remain independent.

About the Author

David Rieff is a journalist who has covered wars and refugee crises around the world and has worked as a human rights investigator for various foundations. A visiting professor at Bard College and the author of four previous books, including Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West, he lives in New York.