Twenty Years On: Humanitarian Action & the Legacy of the Iraq War
This four-part webinar series hosted by the Program on Forced Migration and Health, in collaboration with the Columbia Global Center Amman, marks the 20th anniversary of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and reflects on its enduring impacts on the humanitarian landscape.
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The Iraq war, following on the heels of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, saw the US government increasingly and overtly link military and strategic objectives with the work of humanitarian and development NGOs, raising profound questions around principles of humanitarian independence and neutrality, and ushering in an era in which the lines between military and humanitarian operations have become increasingly blurred.
This panel will explore the implications of these trends over the last two decades, including the accelerating number of attacks on humanitarian workers by state and non-state actors, and challenges to the operational presence of humanitarian organizations in insecure settings. The panelists will also explore how the increasing shift to “remote operations” on the part of international humanitarian actors in a bid to address staff safety and security raises new ethical and logistical challenges for humanitarian efforts.
This panel discusses post-conflict political challenges and risks, strategic alignments in the region, and implications for future political infrastructure.
The 9/11 attacks and subsequent invasion of Iraq ushered in an era of counterterrorism measures which have had profound impacts on humanitarian action. Increasingly, regulations are limiting how and with whom humanitarian actors can work, threatening the impartiality of aid and leaving certain particularly vulnerable populations without support.
This panel will discuss how the counterterrorism framework has impacted patterns of humanitarian aid and the operations of humanitarian organizations, and the challenge of providing services in this context.
Culminating the series is this fourth and final webinar exploring technology's influence on the nature of warfare and humanitarian action which is co-hosted with the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism.
The 9/11 attacks and subsequent invasion of Iraq marked the onset of a period characterized by swift advancements in military technology, resulting in a fundamental shift in the nature of warfare and in far-reaching effects on humanitarian action. The advancement of technology has ushered in a new phase of war strategy in which satellite surveillance, drones, precision munitions, artificial intelligence, and other technologies increasingly complicate the nature of conflict and change the experiences of civilians living in conflict zones.
This panel will explore how technology has been harnessed in war, creating new vulnerabilities for civilians, while also offering innovative opportunities within humanitarian systems established to safeguard individuals exposed to conflict.