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ABSTRACT: With the end of the Cold War, both the concept and practice of humanitarian action have significantly changed. The emergence of the so-called ‘complex humanitarian crises’ made it clear that traditional humanitarian responses based on the classical principles of impartiality and neutrality were not sufficient nor the most appropriate to respond to such complex challenges. The 1990s thus saw the emergence of a ‘new humanitarianism’, which incorporates much broader and longer-term objectives, such as development or peace and poses significant challenges to humanitarian actors in the field. Most of these challenges relate to the increasing political and militarized nature of humanitarian action that was pursued. This article aims to analyze the evolution of the concept and practice of humanitarianism by critically looking at the main trends that have characterized the most recent aid paradigms and by arguing that effective humanitarian action is now facing significant dilemmas and being undermined by this new approach to humanitarianism.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Daniela Nascimento is a Researcher at the Center for Social Studies and Assistant Professor at the School of Economics of the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal.