Humanitarianism Under Fire: The US and UN Intervention in Somalia

The international humanitarian intervention in Somalia was one of the most challenging operations ever conducted by US and UN military forces. Until Somalia, the UN had never run a Chapter VII exercise with large numbers of troops operating under a fighting mandate. It became a deadly test of the UN’s ability carry out a peace operation using force against an adversary determined to sabotage the intervention.

Humanitarianism Under Fire is a candid, detailed historical and political narrative of this remarkably complicated intervention that was one of the first cases of multilateral action in the post-Cold War era. Rutherford presents new information gleaned from interviews and intensive research in five countries. His evidence shows how Somalia became a turning point in the relationship between the UN and US and how policy and strategy decisions in military operations continue to refer back to this singular event, even today.

Kenneth R. Rutherford is director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery and the Mine Action Information Center; professor of political science at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA; and co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network. He is the author of Disarming States: The International Movement to Ban Landmines and has co-edited two books: Landmines And Human Security: International Politics And War's Hidden Legacy and Praeger's Reframing the Agenda: The Impact of NGO and Middle Power Cooperation in International Security Policy.
He has worked for international aid agencies in Bosnia, Kenya, Mauritania, Senegal, and Somalia, and served as a Fulbright Professor in Jordan. After losing his legs to a landmine, he co-founded the Landmine Survivors Network, a leading member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, and the Cluster Munitions Coalition that helped achieve the Convention on Cluster Munitions. His story has been profiled in Reader's Digest and on television, including the BBC, The View, and Oprah.  Rutherford has received several awards in recognition of his humanitarian and human rights leadership, including the Leadership in International Rehabilitation Award by Northwestern University and the first International United Nations Association-USA Humanitarian Prize from Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

Dr. Rutherford earned his Ph.D. and MALS at Georgetown University, and BA and MBA degrees from the University of Colorado where he was a football letterman and inducted in its Hall of Fame for distinguished alumni. He lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia with his wife Kimberly and their four children, Hayden, Campbell, Duncan and Lucie.