Iraq

Humanitarian Agenda 2015: The State of the Humanitarian Enterprise describes the challenges faced by humanitarian actors striving to maintain fidelity to their ideals in a globalized world.

This study provides a composite view of reflections by U.S. veterans from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq on their experiences in the Global War on Terror. It draws on interviews with soldiers, their families, and their communities, and on materials that the soldiers themselves have written describing their experiences. Its opening section contains excerpts from four individuals, reproduced in some detail to convey the richness and diversity of views. The experiences of the four also surface throughout the body of the report, where their reflections are, to one extent or another, echoed by the comments of scores of others from the ranks.

Based on extensive field interviews in Iraq and neighboring Jordan, this briefing paper is an update of an earlier study on perceptions of humanitarian action in Iraq, which was part of the Humanitarian Action 2015 program.

Iraq places the frailties and fault-lines of the humanitarian enterprise in stark relief.

Following a series of observations about how humanitarianism is currently perceived in Iraq, this report highlights findings regarding the operational environment, donor environment, and strategic policy environment.

Larry Minear, a researcher at the Center until his retirement in 2006, has published a book, Through Veterans’ Eyes: The Iraq and Afghanistan Experience (Potomac Books, 2010). The narrative is based on interviews conducted by Minear himself, supplemented with eye-witness … Read More →

By A. Donini, L. Minear, and P. Walker. Journal of Refugee Studies.