SUFFERING CIVILIANS IN AFRICA: BETWEEN THE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR HUMANITARIAN WAR AND THE ETHICS OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE – ICRC AND MSF PERSPECTIVES –
SUFFERING CIVILIANS IN AFRICA: BETWEEN THE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR HUMANITARIAN WAR AND THE ETHICS OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE – ICRC AND MSF PERSPECTIVES –

Summary/Abstract: The suffering of civilians in African war-torn countries triggered both the attention of scholarly accounts and the reaction of the international community; the latter responded with a double approach: forcible humanitarian intervention (or strong military action dubbed as “humanitarian war”) and international relief aid or humanitarian assistance. By presenting two tragic and violent African case studies (the war in Nigeria/Biafra in 1967, and the civil war and humanitarian emergency in Somalia in 1991-1994), the article focuses on pitfalls, shortcomings, and ethical dilemmas resulting from humanitarian crises. The main research questions tackled in this article are: to what extant is the use of force the appropriate means to end civilians’ plight? What were the impediments of Cold War geopolitics with respect to relief actions? What are the features of the new wars in Africa that clearly hamper the proper response to humanitarian disasters?

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