Authoritarian Practices and Humanitarian Negotiations

Andrew J Cunningham has been in the aid business since the late 1980s and has spent 25 years with MSF. He has a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London, and his research focuses on INGO–State relations. Andrew works as a researcher, strategic evaluator, and governance advisor for various humanitarian organisations. His last book with Routledge was International Humanitarian NGOs and State Relations: Politics, Principles and Identity (2018). Andrew is also a board member of the International Humanitarian Studies Association.

Introduction: Authoritarian practices and humanitarian negotiations 1. The friction of practice – reflecting on the Médecins Sans Frontières experience with ‘authoritarian regimes’ Commentary: Reflections on discourse 2. Humanitarian negotiation: Challenges and compromise in hard-to-reach areas Commentary: ‘Security reasons’ 3. The vocabulary of negotiations: Sovereignty and authoritarian arguments in the Security Council Commentary: A critique 4. The Xinjiang case and its implication for the rights debate in China: What role for NGOs and humanitarian negotiations? Commentary: A personal reflection on working in China 5. Daily negotiations with state agencies in the field – reflections from refugee camps in Western Ethiopia Commentary: Independence 6. Dilemmas of humanitarian negotiations with the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan Commentary: A brief critical reflection on Afghanistan 7. Roma structural discrimination in contemporary Russia: Institutions involved and measures (not) taken Commentary: Different types, different responses 8. Humanitarian apparatus of silence: Authoritarian denial and aid assemblage in Venezuela Commentary: Between instrumentalisation, depoliticisation, and legitimation of humanitarian action in Venezuela 9. Mopping up, keeping down, and propping up: Ethical dilemmas in humanitarian negotiations with authoritarian regimes Conclusion: Theory and praxis – constructing the relationship between authoritarian practices and humanitarian negotiations