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The Prawn Behind the Stone
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The Prawn Behind the Stone

Suzanne Burford
Social Alternatives, Vol.24(3), pp.22-27
2005
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Abstract

Political Science humanitarianism
Humanitarianism, the altruistic desire to help other people who are in need of assistance, strikes a moral chord with many people. Yet, state-based humanitarian initiatives in particular usually come with strings attached. Most states that provide humanitarian aid to other states do so on the condition that such aid is used in a certain way. Humanitarian assistance, whether presented in the form of humanitarian aid to help people cope after a natural disaster or as a direct response to deliberate abuse by a state against its citizens, is intervention in the affairs of a sovereign state. Humanitarian intervention refers to action taken by the international community to provide assistance to the people of another state who are experiencing unacceptable and persistent levels of human suffering as a result of state collapse, deliberate government policy or natural disaster. Australian government humanitarian intervention, in the form of emergency assistance, foreign aid and military intervention is an aspect of foreign policy with multiple political, economic and strategic agendas.

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