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Why this study . . and why "Solferino Revisited"?

 

Henry Dunant, a Swiss banker, was traveling in 1859 the region of Solferino. After having witnessed the humanitarian consequences of warfare by coincidence, he started to assist the surviving wounded. Following that, he advocated for the establishment of voluntary attachments to national armies to provide medical assistance to the military, regardless their nationality. He described his experience and his ideas in "A memory of Solferino". .

Many influential people were supportive to the idea, and in 1863 the ICRC was established in Dunant's home town, Geneva. Shortly after, the First Convention of Geneva was ratified by the first States.

The existence of the Geneva Conventions has allowed monitoring and restraint of the humanitarian effects of warfare. Nevertheless, the following century would produce the most savage wars since humans had walked planet earth.

Today, at the brink of the 21st century, little evidence exists to support the idea that the near future will be any different. We do not only see similar atrocities in our time, but as well a fall-back to "pre-Westphalia" with little universal regard for values, the Geneva Conventions. Current conflicts show also a lack of capacity and will to understand other cultures.

While conflicts of the past were usually fought between nations and old Cold War ideologies seem a thing of the past, future conflict may be between them's and us's: Along ethnic, cultural and religious lines, fought through, with and by the people. Frightening populist warnings made by opinion leaders and politicians in a fast changing and globalizing world, changing identities, confusing and emotional discussion on values and norms, freedom and democracy, all are forebodes of a near future period that sets in today: inequity, exclusion, and cultural imperialism. It results in uneasiness (if not fear) and tension in "non-conflict" multicultural environments, and in new types of warfare based on traditional tribal paradigm as old as mankind but using the newest technology. But as we all have become more interdependent, no longer the effects remain local. They are regional and global with dangerously polarizing dynamics, affecting the metaphysical environment that we all (globally) perceive as individuals. Many are already directly affected today, and in one way or another it affects all of us. If people across the world will not be able to contain essentially tribal paradigms in favor of interdependent and more universal ones, it is evident that the wellbeing, mental health state as well as the physical safety of our children will not necessarily be better than that in the 20^th century. .

It is the changing roles of Nation States and individuals, single and collective, which will determine how future societies will deal with conflict. In this project I look back at Dunant's time, and analyze how his social/political environment is different from that of tomorrow's (Red Cross/Crescent) volunteer. The latter will need to have capacity, strength, access and (above all) enjoy the trust of others in order to assist effectively. There are many challenges though, possibly the biggest ones being that we "know" (resulting in not insufficiently analyzing both our environment and ourselves in depth) and path dependency.

So, the title Solferino Revisited points at the fact that I will start comparing humanitarian action of two completely different world's - in time and world-view that is: the mid 19^th and early 21^th centuries-  with as common element the weakest link, yet only hope : Mankind.

In my analysis I will be looking out-of-the-box, in particular to the effects of globalization, reflecting on the latest insights of sociology as well as philosophy. The analysis wilI include information obtained through mainstream news coverage published mainly in the period of 9/11 till the March 2006 local elections in the Netherlands, the latter coinciding with legal verdict on the Dutch Hofstadgroep. Both from a political and a sociological point this period will probably later be looked at as a distinct period of our times, both in the Netherlands as well as globally. I will not shun abstract ideas even when some are not likely to be operationalized in a near future: they can be useful contribution to debate.

Where relevant I will elaborate on personal experience, in relating to a context or my own role in a comparable situation. The result will be a comprehensive but interlinked collection of essays that readers with different interests will hopefully appreciate, accompanied by a list of recommendations.

Finally, there will be an abstract with the main conclusions, made available in English and Dutch. A CD-ROM, which is not available for publication, has been prepared containing many of the background documents that is being referred to.