ABSTRACT
Both for students and practitioners of humanitarian assistance a firm grasp of the political dimension of a context in which a humanitarian emergency occurs, constitutes a crucial component of context analysis. Indeed, Mike O’Neill, Director of Save the Children, noted that every aid worker should not only be aware of his or her particular mission or organization, but also how this mission ‘is likely to be perceived by stakeholders in the area of operation’ (Mertus 2009: 169–70). While this chapter does not focus on stakeholder analysis as such (which is discussed in Chapter 12), it implicitly highlights the importance of the political dimension for better understanding domestic and international stakeholder perceptions with regards to operational security. Only a firm grasp of the political dimension will inform the design of appropriate, safe and effective humanitarian and disaster response programs. This understanding is important because these perceptions can fuel local responses to disaster relief that may render assistance ineffective or at worst threaten the security of humanitarians in the field. For example, as the Director of Operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Pierre Krahenbuhl, notes, the incorporation of humanitarian action into governmental counterinsurgency strategies, as observed in Afghanistan, can have devastating effects upon humanitarians in the field: ‘When humanitarian action becomes part of strategies aimed at defeating an enemy, the risks for aid agencies in the field grow exponentially’ (Krahenbuhl 2011).
