ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how authoritarian practices impact humanitarian negotiations. Contemporary Russia is a good case study for how civil society organisations respond to an environment of authoritarian as well as illiberal practices. International humanitarian non-governmental organisations (INGOs) typically respond to a crisis referencing humanitarian principles. Being external actors they may strive to stay present and operational in a context or, however reluctantly, decide to leave. Local humanitarian organisations are in a different situation. International humanitarian organisations respond to the impetus of the crisis – usually illiberal practices, often equating to human rights abuses. In the 2000s, during the conflict in Chechnya as international humanitarian aid workers we tried to negotiate with the government to find the space in which to provide assistance without becoming politically involved. The organisations Vladimirova describe so elegantly are in a different situation, as there is no space between authoritarian and illiberal practices in the environment within which they work.
