Navigating Humanitarian Responses to Conflict: Ukraine, Afghanistan, & Palestine

• In Event: Poster Session: International Collaboration & Canadian Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: International Collaboration

Abstract

In recent years, the international community has witnessed an unprecedented escalation of violence, conflict, and wars. Besides the ongoing collective recovery from a deadly global pandemic, two years have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to severe political and economic strains beyond the boundaries of Eastern Europe. Nearly three years have transpired since the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan grabbed the attention of the international community after 20 years of U.S. occupation. The escalation of conflict between Israel and Palestine, at the Fall of 2023, resulted with nearly 1200 Israeli civilian deaths, and a bombardment of Gaza, with over 30,000 Palestinians deaths and destruction that will impact multiple generations to come. As in most conflicts, tragically, civilians, namely women and children, experience the greatest toll.

Against the backdrop of these ongoing and escalating conflicts, this in-depth analysis scrutinizes the multifaceted, dynamic nature of global humanitarian responses in conflict-affected spaces, focusing on the crises in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Palestine, which have had profound ramifications to the contemporary global order. As the geopolitical landscape evolves, this research employs a comparative case study approach, delving into challenges faced by international actors, assessing the efficacy of aid delivery mechanisms and the coordination of relief efforts. While there have been gains, the paper exposes the critical contradictions in U.S. and Western foreign aid policies across the three conflicts. Based on geopolitical and strategic interests, the paper critically evaluates the limitations and complexities encountered by bilateral and multilateral institutions for providing humanitarian assistance amid ongoing conflicts. A comparative lens allows for a systematic examination of the challenges, successes, and shortcomings of international efforts to address the complex humanitarian crises, shedding light on the evolving global development landscape in the face of conflict.

Through this exploration, with the need to “renovate” and “reimagine” social systems and orders to address humanitarian crisis in today’s global power shifts, this urgent and pertinent analysis reveals crucial contextual nuances, and the structural and cognitive dynamics of identity politics, power and influence, social and racial inequalities in global humanitarianism. The analysis contributes valuable insights on the evolving strategies and policy recommendations for flexibility and adaptability of the international development community to address urgent and complex humanitarian challenges, in a new geopolitical landscape.

Author

• Elsa Talat Khwaja, International Development Scholar and Consultant