ABSTRACT
The complex emergencies facing the humanitarian community today require aid workers to possess nothing less than “superhuman” characteristics. They must not only be technically competent in economics, agronomy, medicine, and engineering, they must be fearless “moral philosophers” who engage in the essential crafts of political analysis and conflict management with deep understanding of history and culture. The weight of this massive burden placed, perhaps unfairly, on these aid workers by the international community is compounded by very tangible demands of their needy beneficiaries in the field and the tasks of negotiating the conflicting ideals of neutrality, justice, and solidarity. These personnel must encounter the troubling ethical dilemmas of relief work, face the limits of their helping capacity, and realize that their goals may sometimes conflict with those of the people they are supposedly assisting.
