History and Hope: The International Humanitarian Reader provides a better understanding-both within and outside academia-of the multifaceted demands posed by humanitarian assistance programs. The Reader is a compilation of the most important chapters in the twelve-volume International Humanitarian Affairs book series published by Fordham University Press. Each selected chapter has been edited and updated.
In addition, the series editor, Kevin M. Cahill, M.D., has written, among other chapters, an introductory essay explaining the academic evolution of the discipline of humanitarian assistance. It focuses on the "Fordham Experience": its Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) has developed practical programs for training fieldworkers, especially those dealing with complex emergencies following conflicts and man-made or
natural disasters.

Provides a better understanding - both within and outside academia - of the multifaceted demands posed by humanitarian assistance programmes

About the Author
Kevin M. Cahill, M.D., (1936-2022) was University Professor and Director at the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University and the President of the Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation in New York City. He was also a Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine and Molecular Parasitology at New York University and Director of the Tropical Disease Center at Lenox Hill Hospital. He served as the Chief Advisor on Humanitarian and Public Health Issues for three Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly and for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. His career in tropical medicine and humanitarian operations began in Calcutta in 1959; he carried out medical, relief, and epidemiological research in 70 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He wrote or edited 33 books, translated into many languages, and more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals on subjects ranging from public health and tropical diseases to humanitarian assistance, foreign affairs, Irish literature, and history. He held numerous Honorary Doctorates from universities around the world.

Reviews
"The pursuit of the goals of humanitarianism whether through assistance or intervention has no single way, follows no preconceived pattern. Almost by definition each experience is different. This means, more perhaps than in any other human activity, that practitioners have to be ready to learn from experience and adapt to circumstance. As the editor, contributor and inspiration of this much needed book, Kevin M. Cahill brings the insights of a clinician in tropical medicine and public health, as well as those of an academic in humanitarian studies. Standing behind the book are twelve volumes still with much relevance to present issues into which readers can delve. Kevin M. Cahill and his distinguished fellow authors have distilled in this Reader much wisdom of lasting value." -From the Foreword by Lord David Owen "This Reader is the result of the long struggle to link academia and humanitarian action. Ultimately, preserving "humanitarian space" will be imperative. Only the education of a committed cadre of trained professionals will be able to secure the traditions of neutrality, impartiality, and independence. In this Reader the history and hope of that endeavor seem to blend and rhyme into a poetic and noble assertion, one of undoubted reality but softened by the romance of universal love. The seeds of experience will, hopefully, be allowed to blossom into wisdom. Future generations will have to continue the endless effort to relieve unnecessary suffering and promote universal justice and peace. This Reader should help guide the way forward. That surely is my intent." -From the Introduction by Kevin M. Cahill, M.D.



Book Information
ISBN 9780823251971
Author Kevin M. Cahill
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint Fordham University Press
Publisher Fordham University Press