Publication

This paper focuses on armed groups as key actors in contemporary conflict and on the relationship between humanitarian and political engagement. The author stresses that armed groups are key interlocutors for those working politically to end war and to rebuild war-torn societies. He states that when dealing with armed groups one cannot assume there is agreement on key humanitarian principles, even at a purely rhetorical level. According to the author, the armed groups' tactics are driven by their ideologies and constituencies, either or both of which may reject humanitarian principles.