A questionnaire study was conducted to investigate the psychological adjustment of people who had been aid workers overseas. Nearly fifty percent of the sample of returned aid workers (n = 145) reported that they had experienced psychological difficulties while they were overseas or following their return to Britain. Most had not received any treatment for their difficulties. People who reported psychological problems had, on average, spent longer as aid workers than those who reported no psychological problems. Compared with a group of people preparing for their first term as overseas aid workers (n = 43), returned aid workers had significantly higher mean scores on measures assessing depression, intrusive thoughts, and, among women, avoidance. Aid workers who invalidated their feelings appeared to be especially vulnerable to developing psychological difficulties. When compared with people who did not intend to become aid workers (n = 71), returned aid workers and people preparing to become aid workers were found to perceive the world as a more benevolent and meaningful place. However, a small proportion of returned aid workers expressed views that the world was malevolent and meaningless; such views were related to the development of psychological problems. This finding was discussed with relation to Janoff-Bulman's (1992) theory of shattered assumptions. Implications of the findings were considered, including implications for the selection, preparation and treatment of aid workers.

The study which follows considers the current approach to State sovereignty, use of force, and human rights, in order to determine the balance which exists between these concepts. A shift in this balance determines the direction of development of the concept of ‘humanitarian intervention.’ The investigation establishes that State sovereignty and certain human rights are at a point where they are viewed as equal and competing interests in the international arena. This leads to the question of whether or not the concept of humanitarian intervention has found any acceptance in international law. It is determined that the right to intervention rests exclusively with the United Nations Security Council. There are, however, obstacles to United Nations action, which necessitate either taking action to remove the obstacles, or finding an alternative to United Nations authorized action. The alternatives provided are unilateral interventions by regional organizations, groups of States or individual States, with interventions by regional organizations being favoured. The study further discusses the requirements which would make unilateral action more acceptable. These same requirements provide a standard against which the United Nations can measure its duty to intervene. Such an investigation was done by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, and a synopsis of its Report and Recommendations are included. Finally, the question of responsibility is addressed. State and individual responsibility for two separate types of action are considered. The responsibility of States and individuals for initiating an intervention is considered under the topic of the crime of aggression. The responsibility of States and individual for exceeding the mandate of a legitimate intervention is considered under the heading of war crimes.

The thesis employs critical discourse analysis to map the debate regarding the deployment of armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in warfare and analyses the arguments that legitimise drone strikes and those which criticise their deployment. It also identifies the contentious issues regarding new technologies in warfare. The thesis is aimed at examining the kinds of arguments and justifications that have been provided by different actors for the deployment of armed drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan over a fifteen-year period, beginning with the first strikes in June 2004. It focuses on the bureaucratic debates regarding the strikes and how political leaders have framed the rationale for their deployment. Consequently, it is important to critically analysis how the strikes by United States have been interpreted by different voices and whether the actions of the United States and its drone policy can or cannot be normatively and ethically justified. The thesis sets out by identifying the common themes that emerge from the public discourse and sets out to answer one key question that assesses the intertextual framework that has bounded the official discourse, the wider political, academic and public debate regarding armed unmanned drone strikes. That is: How have the US drone campaigns...

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The humanitarian space in the European Union is shrinking, causing unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths, or is it? Humanitarian organisations are calling on the respect of principled humanitarian aid, protection of humanitarian workers and unhindered access to the affected population namely, undocumented asylum seekers.They are blaming the prioritisation of national security interests over humanitarian concerns as well as the politicisation of aid for the shrinking humanitarian space. In doing so, humanitarian organisations are becoming the primary obstacle in their appeal for a greater humanitarian space by misinterpreting it as a borderless, apolitical arena governed by supra-national laws. Through a single case study of the humanitarian border in the EU, this study seeks to analyse to what extent the humanitarian space in the EU is really shrinking. The three-fold enclosed humanitarian pyramid theoretically guides the critical analysis of the qualities and virtues that make up the humanitarian space as constructed in the humanitarian arena. Furthermore, acts of humanity are clearly defined as either belonging to the humanitarian or civic space, thereby further enforcing the borders of the humanitarian space. This study finds that the humanitarian space as the humanitarian pyramid is unable to shrink, it is built to overcome obstacles and external pressures. As it cannot shrink, so it cannot grow; it is either complete orabsent. Originally, the humanitarian space debate was employed to promote safe and accessible humanitarian assistance and protection for affected populations. Today, the discourse is employed by humanitarian organisations to promote the agency space while the needs of rights-based individuals seeking assistance and protection has become secondary. The affected population is rendered invisible through a crisis narrative, only to be made visible through a greater humanitarian space. Humanitarian organisations need to abandon false narratives of apolitical and borderless ideals,especially when working within violent borders, and train on political literacy to improve cooperation with states.

The aim of the study is to examine how well MSB (Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency) prepare the Swedish humanitarian aid workers to face stressful situations, looking at the pre- deployment preparation received. The study investigates how effective and relevant the pre- deployment preparation is in terms of building resilience against stress, according to the humanitarian aid workers’ experience. This study has been conducted with a quantitative online survey, combined with a qualitative open- ended survey. The surveys were based on research models on work-related stress and on resilience- building among humanitarian aid workers. The frameworks point out criteria needed to be fulfilled by an organization in order to build sufficient stress- resilience among humanitarian aid workers in the pre- deployment phase. The results reveal that MSB is able to fulfill most of the criteria set in accordance with the theoretical framework. The one and only criterion MSB fails in providing is an open, in- depth discussion about mental health before the aid worker is deployed. This also corresponds to the aid workers experience of not being provided with this. The aid workers’ experience reveals that resilience against stress is important, however, many seem to build resilience independently from MSB.

The object of this thesis is to focus on one of the valued-based agendas of the international relations --humanitarian aid. This topic is narrowed to the actions of non- and inter-governmental organizations. It as well contains the analysis of campaign framing of these organizations. The main task is to evaluate the success of humanitarian actions on the disaster in Haiti. The thesis includes a questionnaire that should find out how do the humanitarian organizations and their campaigns influence public opinion.

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The 1990s saw a growing awareness of the relationship between aid and conflict, which included a better understanding of the potential impact of aid in terms of ameliorating or exacerbating conflict. Recognizing that aid, at a minimum, should 'do no harm', the challenge now exists for humanitarian aid organizations to apply and mainstream this understanding. This thesis presents a case study of the implementation phase of such a Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) methodology, the Better Programming Initiative (BPI), as applied by the Honduran Red Cross in a situation of high social violence in the community of Ciudad Espafia. Several months were spent in Honduras in order to develop an understanding of the implementation of BPI through participating in and assisting with the facilitation of BPI training and a program analysis of the project. The study was based on individual interviews, participant feedback from written workshop evaluations, participant observation, and participation in NGO training and evaluation activities as well as secondary data sources including research and project reports. Lessons learned during the implementation process are outlined, as well as suggestions for enhancing the BPI training and program analysis process are provided. Areas for further research are also identified.