ABSTRACT
The human and political dimensions of humanitarian emergencies in Central America, northern Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Somalia, and Rwanda and the Great Lakes region of Africa illustrate the challenges that humanitarian action faces in a post–Cold War world. Learning about the history and real-time activities of a humanitarian crisis was possible with just a few keystrokes. One explanation for the turbulent history of most Central American countries is encapsulated in the well-worn regional lament "So far from God, so close to the United States." The Gulf War was the first international emergency to be addressed in the post-Cold War world and the first to be televised live each evening. Even in cases where elections were held and civilians took office, the military regimes, strengthened by U. S. financing and training, often held sway over the principles of democracy and popular representation.
