ABSTRACT
Many contemporary accounts humanitarian protection convey the impression that it began with the Geneva Conventions, providing a relatively unproblematic history of these international laws and related principles. Echoing post-colonial scholars, the argument author make here is that humanitarian protection is inevitably understood and acted upon through Western perspectives. With this in mind, this chapter unpacks the accepted history of humanitarian protection in war, revealing how a highly specific protection philosophy became a universal endeavour. Here he argue that the concepts of nation state, war and humanitarian protection work together as a Eurocentric package. This chapter summons reader to rethink how protection works, seeking a vantage point that is not vested in the established logic of Eurocentric laws and principles, but acknowledging the diverse network of actors and interactions that humanitarian protection entails.
