ABSTRACT
Modern humanitarian action was born when Henry Dunant witnessed the bloody battle of Solferino, where the forces of France and its allies fought Austria in 1859. Wilsonian organizations take a different approach. They believe that aid is essentially political and defend the benefits of taking a stand. Humanitarian action as we know it today has roots in 18th- and 19th-century missionary efforts. It may have started as a good faith impulse to aid people in need, but since its origins, it has been deeply attached to the Western world’s colonizing project. Humanitarianism thus represents the best of human intentions, but it is snuggled inside a flawed political effort that was originally designed for dominant countries to exploit the world’s resources and civilize its peoples. When power is embedded in social structures the individuals and institutions who possess it sometimes are barely aware of the influence they have.
