Syria and the Neutrality Trap: Dilemmas of Delivering Humanitarian Aid through Violent Regimes.

• Author: Kocak, Harun

By Carsten Wieland

London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021, 200 pages, $26,95, ISBN: 9780755641383

Having attended and observed many procedures relating to the Syrian conflict as a diplomat, author Carsten Wieland sees the matter of humanitarian aid as one of the most challenging issues the United Nations (UN) faced. Taking the UN's humanitarian aid dilemma as a case study, Syria and the Neutrality Trap explores the discrepancies within international law, the structure of international organizations, and the international system as a whole.

Neutrality and impartiality stand as important factors that can tarnish the reputation of states and international organizations when humanitarian aid is involved in cases such as the Syrian conflict. Wieland asks, how can political and humanitarian decision-makers take a position that is neutral and impartial in terms of international law in the context of a brutal, asymmetric war while attempting to alleviate human suffering (p. 1)? Syria and the Neutrality Trap revolves around this vital question. The author specifically wants readers to know that the book is about the behaviors of various actors in the context of the conflict (ius in bello) but not about who is right or wrong in launching the war in Syria (ius ad bellum) (p. 7). All these points are introduced in the first chapter and shape the book's core theme.

In the second chapter, Wieland compares other instances of the necessity for humanitarian aid to the ongoing Syria crisis with reference to the literature on this topic. It is helpful to perceive how the UN and certain states behaved earlier in situations such as Bosnia, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, and to explore the degree of similarity or difference between these conflicts and the situation in Syria. In the third chapter, Wieland introduces the relevant international humanitarian and human rights legislation by focusing on the responsibilities of the parties to the armed conflict in Syria in terms of humanitarian affairs. What the author wants readers to realize in this chapter is that theory and practice are often segregated in brutal cases such as Syria (p. 32) and that delivering humanitarian aid to the destitute becomes complex work.

In the next chapter, Wieland explains how international human rights legislation has weakened as a result of the global rise of populism and nationalism in previous decades. This trend undeniably makes it tougher for humanitarian activities to properly...