Brief Description
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the International Committee of the Red Cross from its origins up to the present day.
Learn More about the Book
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) coordinates the world's largest private relief system for conflict situations. Yet despite its very important role, operations remain mysterious and secretive. This book examines the ICRC from mid-nineteenth century origins to the present. Taking international humanitarian law into consideration, David Forsythe focuses on the policy making and field work of the ICRC. He explores how it exercises its independence impartially to protect prisoners in Iraq, displaced and starving civilians in Somalia, and families separated by conflict in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
About the Author
David P. Forsythe is Charles J. Mach Distinguished Professor, and University Professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He has published extensively on different aspects of International Relations including Human Rights in International Relations (Cambridge, 2000), which has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, Korean, and Bulgarian, and most recently, Human Rights and Diversity: Area Studies Revisited (edited with Patrice McMahon, 2004). He is also the general editor of the new edition of The Encyclopedia of Human Rights.
Review Quotes
1. 'David Forsythe's study unlocks many of the mysteries about the International Committee of the Red Cross. Based on previously unexploited sources, he provides a critical yet respectful analysis of this most important humanitarian organisation.' William A. Schabas, Director, Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway
2. 'Were this a commissioned study of its history, policy analysis and future goals, the International Committee of the Red Cross could not have expected a more solid, fair-minded or insightful result than has been delivered here independently by American academic and long-time ICRC watcher David Forsythe.' The Australian
3. 'The Humanitarians is to promote a fuller understanding of the ICRC's role in international relations, and to clear up misunderstandings.' Times Literary Supplement
4. " Forsythe's book is the most up-to-date and reliable account of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is an important book for anyone seriously concerned with international humanitarianism. Highly recommended." Choice
5. ??Forsythe's book is the most up-to-date and reliable account of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is an important book for anyone seriously concerned with international humanitarianism. Highly recommended.?? Choice
6. ?Forsythe's book is the most up-to-date and reliable account of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is an important book for anyone seriously concerned with international humanitarianism. Highly recommended.? Choice
7. "Were this a commissioned study of its history, policy analysis and future goals, the International Committee of the Red Cross could not have expected a more solid, fair-minded or insightful result than has been delivered here independently by American academic and long-time ICRC watcher David Forsythe... Although not uncritical of the ICRC, Forsythe offers persuasive justification for its refusal to engage in shame and blame activities and its continuance, instead, of advocacy for incremental improvement."
The Australian
8. "David P. Forsythe, well respected for his works relating to Human Rights, also happens to know more about the ICRC than anyone outside, and almost everybody inside, that organization. He understands its foibles and recognizes its occasional failures. He also greatly admires it and has no doubt that the world would be a worse place without it."
Times Literary Supplement
9. Forsythe's book is the most up-to-date and reliable account of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is an important book for anyone seriously concerned with international humanitarianism. Highly recommended.
Choice"
10. "As Forsythe maintains, the ICRC has liberal goals and conservative means. It is fully embedded in Western democratic liberalism...but goes about promoting its liberal goals in a slow (sometimes frustratingly slow for many observers), methodical, non-confrontational way...Forsythe maintains that, with a few unfortunate examples...it has conducted itself with admirable independence."
Kurt Mills, Human Rights and Human Welfare
