Syria And The Neutrality Trap Dilemmas Of Delivering Humanitarian Aid Through Violent Regimes Carsten Wieland by Carsten Wieland 9780755641383, 9780755641390, 9780755641420, 0755641388, 0755641396, 0755641426 instant download after payment.

The Syrian war has been an example of the abuse and insufficient delivery of humanitarian assistance. According to international practice, humanitarian aid should be channelled through a state government that bears a particular responsibility for its population. Yet in Syria, the bulk of relief went through Damascus while the regime caused the vast majority of civilian deaths. Should the UN have severed its cooperation with the government and neglected its humanitarian duty to help all people in need? Decision-makers face these tough policy dilemmas, and often the “neutrality trap” snaps shut.
This book discusses the political and moral considerations of how to respond to a brutal and complex crisis while adhering to international law and practice. The author, a scholar and senior diplomat involved in the UN peace talks in Geneva, draws from first-hand diplomatic, practitioner and UN sources. He sheds light on the UN’s credibility crisis and the wider implications for the development of international humanitarian and human rights law. He is concerned about the silent retrogression towards absolute state-sovereignty, the death of Responsibility to Protect, an increasing numbness and lethargy on violations, a rise of bilateralism, and the dwindling respect for international law and institutions that have accompanied the Syrian crisis.
The meticulous account of current international practice is both insightful and disturbing. It tackles the painful lessons learnt and provides recommendations for future challenges where politics fails and humanitarians fill the moral void.