Slim - Solferino 21: Warfare Civilians and Humanitarians in the Twenty First Cent

SOLFERINO 21

Warfare, Civilians and Humanitarians in the

Twenty-First Century

HUGO SLIM

in association with

HURST & COMPANY, LONDON

First published in the United Kingdom in 2022 by

C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.,

New Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

Hugo Slim, 2022

All rights reserved.

Distributed in the United States, Canada and Latin America by Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.

The right of Hugo Slim to be identified as the author of this publication is asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

A Cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 9781787386839

www.hurstpublishers.com

is it not a matter of urgency, since unhappily we cannot always avoid wars, to press forward in a human and truly civilized spirit the attempt to prevent, or at least to alleviate, the horrors of war?

Henri Dunant, A Memory of Solferino , 1862

This book reflects the authors views alone and does not necessarily represent the positions of the members of the advisory group or the organizations that they represent.

The story of Henry Dunants experiences on the battlefield of Solferino back in 1859 launched the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and defined a method and philosophy on humanitarian action. The book, A Memory of Solferino , has been translated into many languages and continues to provide inspiration to millions across the globe as they endeavour to make a difference to the lives of people affected by armed conflict. The very simple but compelling idea of reducing suffering during war has stood the test of time. How this is done today is another story.

It was against such a background that this book, Solferino 21 , was envisaged. It was conceptualized as an opportunity to stop and reflect upon the changes that have washed across the battlefield landscape and beyond in the last 160 yearsprovoking ideas and views on how to address the future of humanitarian action. It does not aim to update such a pioneering text as Dunants, nor to re-visit the visions and reflections expressed by him so many years ago. Rather, the author takes us on a journey of change, highlighting a range of new tipping points and providing us with the big issues linked with war, civilians and humanitarians.

Hugo Slim was well placed to undertake such a taskfrom his elegant previous writings, teachings and research on this theme to the range of roles he has played in humanitarian organizations over many years. The spread of COVID-19 rendered impossible his initial intention of walking across conflict sites and imagining what different experiences Henry Dunant may have encountered. The book is, therefore, focused more on observations and new perspectives. However, the opportunity it provides for the reader to delve into considerations of the major challenges facing humanity in the area of war and the humanitarian response in the twenty-first century has in no way been diminished.

This work, which was undertaken by the author at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, was supported by the British, German and Norwegian Red Cross societies as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross. As individuals drawn from each of these institutions and organizations, but acting in our personal capacities, we were privileged to serve as a group of advisers for this exciting project. We had something of a front-row seat through the different phases in which this book was conceived and the main lines of argument developed, and during which the text began to take shape. Our task was to provide reflections and feedback over the course of a series of meetings. From our respective vantage points as humanitarians or scholars, we very much appreciated the opportunity to get a birds-eye view of the state of war in the twenty-first century.

While there are many works that provide details and analysis of specific aspects of war and of humanitarian action, this book provides an opportunity to see and assess a number of key developments at the same time. The reader is able to stand back, to view the trend lines and to get a sense of what it is that defines and shapes war and the humanitarian response to it in this century. As the author points out, just as the main features of war were about to change when Dunant wrote his book, so we seem to be on the cusp of new changes today. In addition to taking the reader through the changes that are about to come, the book explores the most significant changes of the recent past. Present and future technological developments are perhaps the most obvious changes to analyse and reflect upon, and this book provides an overview of where we seem to be going in this regard.

However, some of the most important changes to the experience of war have not just been in relation to hardwareweapons and physical thingsbut relate to ideas and our view of morality. As the author points out, today the civilianand not the combatantstands at the centre of attention with regard to war. Her experienceand it is most notably the female experiencecaptures the attention in a way that would not have been imagined, either when Dunant wrote or even in the middle of the twentieth century. As the book explains, while civilian deaths unfortunately continue to be a central and tragic aspect of war, the overriding civilian experience of war in the twenty-first century is about the deprivations that war brings. That experience is most often one of lack of access to food, water, shelter and safety, and the displacement that so often comes with conflict. Sadly, many of these deprivations are not just a side effect of war but, rather, a tactic by belligerent forces.

This book explores how humanitarian agencies have responded and should respond to the civilian experience in war. Here again, the author argues that not only have there been significant changes, but there should, in his view, be further changes. There should be a rebalancing between the international and national character of the humanitarian response. He calls for greater localization and decentralization of humanitarian action. While not all will share his views about what the right prescriptions are, and whilst also we as individuals did not share the same opinion, there remains much useful and nourishing food for thought in these pages. The important matters raised in this book will be part of the ongoing debates by humanitarian workers globally and locally, decision makers, funders, scholars, and perhaps even donors.

We hope furthermore that this work will help inspire yet another generation of humanitarians. By bringing the focus from the past to the future, it not only takes the reader through that journey, but also provides ample inspiration and substance for anyone wishing to join the tribe of humanitarians. For them the history, principles and application of normative frameworks visited in this work will become a guiding star.

Advisory group of members from the British Red Cross, the

German Red Cross, the Norwegian Red Cross, and the

International Committee of the Red Cross

September 2021

List of Abbreviations