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ReviewDilemmas of humanitarian aid in the twentieth century is a comprehensive historical account of humanitarianism from the mid-nineteenth century to the 2000s. It situates developments in international aid, assistance and relief in various parts of the world within larger, enduring themes." -- BogdanC. Iacob, International Affairs Book Reviews"[W]elcome and timely..."--Siân Roberts, Quaker StudiesProduct DescriptionThis volume explores the history of humanitarian aid revealing fundamental dilemmas inherent in humanitarian practice for more than a century. The contributions analyse humanitarianism from the point of view of Europe and the West, and from the colonies and the Third World, revealing unevendevelopments and contingencies of change. Emphasis is put on the coming together of different forces, events, and structures at particular times, explaining the dilemmas faced up to the present day.Humanitarian aid developed in a polycentric, multi-layered manner during specific conjunctures in the twentieth century. Its modern European version combines different threads with strong links to empire, religious and secular organizations, and warfare. In practice, the boundaries betweenhumanitarian relief, development aid, human rights, and humanitarian intervention have been blurred. The urge to relieve distant suffering and make the world a better place, the evolving nature of humanitarian organizations, international politics and political economy, have all contributed tomaking humanitarian aid a dynamic field.The historical studies in this volume are based on multi-archival research. They start with the foundations of international humanitarianism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, highlighting state interests, religious motivations and imperial reform. From these beginnings,humanitarian aid grew strongly in volume and organization during the first half of the twentieth century. The contributions show developments in the shadow of colonialism and two world wars covering Europe, northern Africa, China and transatlantic relations. After 1945 humanitarian practice stood atthe intersection of Cold War and decolonization. Wars of independence, direct confrontations between East and West in the Third World, and the growth of development policy affected humanitarian practice, its scope and challenges. The most recent period of global humanitarianism is explored in essayson the role of non-Western areas in humanitarian governance, relations between concern for others and the self in prominent global organizations, and the practice of aid workers on the spot.The volume identifies several essential dilemmas inherent in the idea and practice of international humanitarian aid since the beginning of the twentieth century. Amongst these is the politics of empathy. Narratives of suffering and relief often focused on events and actions; as the consequence ofan alarmist and dramatized picture, regularly gendered by a focus on women and children, the political or structural causes of suffering were often left out. Human empathy was foregrounded and used by some of the political actors in disasters, so that we can speak of the politics of empathy.Furthermore, the volume describes humanitarian aid as politics: humanitarian aid was often used as an instrument to achieve other ends. In foreign aid it became an instrument of foreign policy. It also formed part of the economic policy of some governments in favour of their own producers. Domesticpolitics in donor and receiving countries determined the size, timing, and geography of aid, while international relations affected who helped, to what extent, and for how long. Humanitarian aid as politics also touches on the fundamental question of the relationship between civil society, thestate, and the military. Finally, we recognize the politics of aid: as a result of proliferation and competition, aid organizations pursued their own politics. One basic featu