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Humanitarian Action in the Caucasus: a Guide for Practitioners

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Humanitarian Action in the Caucasus: a Guide for Practitioners HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN THE CAUCASUS: A GUIDE FOR PRACTITIONERS Greg Hansen Humanitarianism and War Project & Local Capacities for Peace Project i Published by The Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies Brown University, Box 1970 2 Stimson Avenue Providence, RI 02912 USA Telephone: (401) 863-2809 Fax: (401) 863-1270 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Watson_Institute/ Thomas J. Biersteker, Ph.D., Director Frederick F. Fullerton, Writer/Editor Nancy Soukup, Writer/Editor George Potter, Staff Assistant Statements of fact or opinions are solely those of the authors; their publication does not imply endorsement by the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies. Copyright 1998 by the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies. All rights reserved under International and Pan American Convention. No part of this report may be reproduced by any other means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Publications Group, Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies. ii CONTENTS Preface ........................................................................................................................................... v Author’s Note...............................................................................................................................ix Acronyms......................................................................................................................................xi Political Map of the Caucasus ..................................................................................................xii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Humanitarian Landscape .................................................................................7 The Context of Conflict ......................................................................................................7 The Nature of Warfare.........................................................................................................9 The Conflicts ...................................................................................................................... 12 Tension Areas ..................................................................................................................... 22 The Social Context for Humanitarian Action ................................................................ 25 Chapter 2: Adapting to the Environment for Humanitarian Action .................................. 31 Security ............................................................................................................................... 31 Lessons Learned and Spurned .......................................................................................... 34 Humanitarian Professionalism.......................................................................................... 46 Chapter 3: Humanitarian Action ............................................................................................. 51 Assistance Needs ................................................................................................................51 Protection Needs ............................................................................................................... 54 Supporting Indigenous Capacities................................................................................... 56 Humanitarian Action and Politics ................................................................................... 57 Frozen Conflicts: Implications for Humanitarian Action ............................................. 58 Donor Policies ................................................................................................................... 61 Humanitarian, Diplomatic, and Peacekeeping Synergies ............................................. 62 Maximizing the Space for Humanitarian Action ........................................................... 65 Chapter 4: Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance: Interactions in Practice ...................... 69 Limits to Local Traditions of Conflict Resolution ........................................................ 69 Avoiding Negative Interactions ....................................................................................... 70 Resource Transfers ............................................................................................................ 71 Implicit Ethical Messages ................................................................................................. 77 Supporting Local Capacities for Peace Through Aid ................................................... 81 Chapter 5: Toward Normalization: Post-Emergency Humanitarian Action ..................... 83 iii Appendix I: Regional Chronology of Major Events ............................................................ 87 Appendix II: Sample Capacities and Vulnerabilities Analysis ............................................. 91 Appendix III: A Framework for Considering the Impact of Aid on Conflict ................... 92 Appendix IV: The Providence Principles ............................................................................... 93 Appendix V: Resources For Further Reading........................................................................ 94 Appendix VI: About the Author and the Sponsoring Projects............................................ 95 iv PREFACE The idea of preparing an aid worker’s guide to the Caucasus evolved from earlier research, publication, and training activities of the Humanitarianism and War Project and the Local Capacities for Peace Project. In recent years, the Humanitarianism and War Project published as part of the Watson Institute Occasional Paper series three related case studies: Armed Conflict in Georgia: A Case Study in Humanitarian Action and Peacekeeping, by S. Neil MacFarlane, Larry Minear, and Stephen D. Shenfield in 1996, Humanitarian Action in Chechnya, by Greg Hansen and Robert Seely in 1996, and Humanitarian Action and Politics: The Case of Nagorno-Karabakh, by S. Neil MacFarlane and Larry Minear in 1997. During the same time, the Local Capacities for Peace Project focused one of its set of case studies about aid in conflict settings on the Caucasus (“International Assistance to Civilians: The Abkhaz-Georgian Civil War,” by Kenny Gluck, March 1995) and con- ducted several “feedback workshops” with aid providers in both the northern and the southern Caucasus, most recently in mid-1998. Project findings from the Caucasus and other areas have been summarized in a booklet entitled Do No Harm: Supporting Local Capacities for Peace through Aid, by Mary B. Anderson (1996). Citations for both sets of publications appear in Appendix V. Greg Hansen, who authored this Guide, has been closely involved in both projects. He brings to this work a strong commitment to seeking out practical lessons that will enable aid providers to do their jobs more effectively, even under the complex conditions of civil war. He has broad experience in conflict settings, recently buttressed by an additional four months conducting extensive interviews in the Caucasus and participating in a series of roundtables convened by aid agencies in Tblisi, Yerevan, and Baku to reflect on their experiences. His Author’s Note does not name his important contributions to the increasing understanding that aid providers in this part of the world have been able to gain from such reflection and collaboration. The Guide is not an ivory tower document. Faithful to our inductive, experiential approach, it seeks to provide practical information and guidance to humanitarian person- nel in the Caucasus. It is designed to help them to deal with issues that, properly ad- dressed, can make for effective humanitarian action while, if ignored, may cost dearly in programs and lives. Yet there are limits to its practicality. It is not a directory of organi- zations working in South Ossetia or Nagorno-Karabakh, a Who’s Who for the UN Observer Mission in Georgia or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eu- rope, or a map of downtown Tblisi or Grozny. The text provides invaluable background to the conflicts in the region (Chapter 1) and to humanitarian activities there (Chapters 2 and 4). Chapters 3 and 5 offer insights, analysis, suggestions, cautions, and ideas for further exploration that will inform and inspire future aid workers in the Caucasus. Underscoring the objective of utility to practitioners, we are departing from the normal format of Watson Institute occasional papers in favor of a more user-friendly product for those on the front lines of conflicts. This Guide contains no easy answers. As Hansen indicates, they do not exist. Yet the text is posited on the belief that answers—though not easy—can be found to the most v challenging and confounding of aid dilemmas. This book is offered in the expectation that when aid providers work together with local people to meet immediate, war-induced needs, as well as to forge new approaches to future problem-solving, they can make important contributions to people’s immediate survival and longer-term prospects. This expectation is based on the experiences of the past from which this Guide has been assembled. In addition to building
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