Sleight of state: how host governments influence international humanitarian response

Della Guardia, Anne (2024) Sleight of state: how host governments influence international humanitarian response. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Why do some humanitarian crises and affected regions receive more than others that are also deserving of response? This research examines twin puzzles of humanitarian aid allocation and distribution that highlight divergences in the responsiveness of the humanitarian sector to different displacement situations, where similar zones of reception are allocated starkly different levels of response, and some conflict zones where aid distribution occurs face far greater constraints than others, despite otherwise similar logistical barriers. Drawing from a comparative ethnography of aid allocation and distribution in three crises in Cameroon, I build an argument that host government political incentives, shaped by subnational political dynamics, contribute to a dialogic relationship between humanitarian organizations, practitioners, and governments that leads to divergent outcomes in distinct crisis zones. I argue that it is the host government’s domestic political stakes in different crises, and specifically its i. security interests and ii. economic interests, that predict how assistance is funneled. Although it can often be in a host government’s interest to welcome humanitarian assistance, in other instances there are clear motivations to either entirely block these efforts or at least hinder and guide them to align with a government’s interests and agendas. This argument is employed in explaining both puzzles of aid allocation and distribution and identifies four mechanisms through which host governments exert their influence over aid allocation and distribution at a regional level. I conceptualize a host government’s abilities to exert its influence through the following four mechanisms identified through this research: i. Access denial, ii. Administrative impediments iii. Physical constraints, and iv. Perception influence.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2024 Anne Della Guardia
Library of Congress subject classification:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JZ International relations
Sets:	Departments > International Relations
Supervisor:	Lake, Milli
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4807

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