Publications

The success of the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus would require a plausible account of how the concepts of humanitarian aid, development cooperation, and peace can complement each other. This chapter casts doubt on the possibility of such an account by reconstructing the history of (the concepts of) humanitarian aid and, to a lesser extent, development cooperation, with special consideration of their relationships to logics of war and peace. The chapter proceeds in three steps. First, it traces the conceptual link between humanitarian aid and war. Second, it shows how the limits of war have been eroded, leading to a crisis of humanitarianism and development cooperation. Third, it demonstrates how, in response to these developments, attempts have been made in various ways to institutionally undermine the uniqueness of humanitarian aid, blurring the line with development cooperation. We conclude by suggesting that a humanitarian-development-war nexus is a more accurate description of the status quo.

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