Humanitarian agendas, state reconstruction and democratisation processes in war-torn societies

This paper responds to criticisms of humanitarian activities that assert that they harm rather than support processes of democratisation, accountability and other components of "good governance" in societies emerging from "complex political emergencies." It does this by summarising the emerging critique of the "humanitarian international" (HI) as articulated by Alex de Waal,1 one of the most prominent and polemical proselytisers of the death-knell of humanitarianism.He argues that the HI's processes are negative because they hinder the development of the strong bonds between state and society necessary for the development of democratic good governance.