Humanitarians at War is a highly welcome addition to the growing literature about humanitarianism and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Based on impressive archival work and careful attention to the secondary literature, the book helps to piece together the puzzle that is the International Committee of the Red Cross (icrc) at a particularly critical moment in its history.
The book has an introduction, nine substantive chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction provides the broad sweep of the argument: The icrc should be understood as an organization like any other, containing a potent mixture of principles and self-interest, in which self-interest tends to win at critical moments. Marching through the waning days of the war and the early postwar years, Steinacher paints a picture of an organization that is highly self-absorbed but often worried that leaving such an impression might cause it to lose legitimacy. Chapter 1...