potential violation of sovereign rights to being a safeguard for fundamental
human rights.^14A decade and a half on, this seems like a breathtakingly utopian reading of the
concept. In the meantime, anticipating somewhat the argument of the next section,
we could ask ourselves whether we might not plausibly define a state that
maintains a serious human rights framework within its borders as a rather
impressive humanitarian space. Could Western liberal democracies then be the best
examples yet of humanitarian space, and are professional humanitarians missing
the wood for the trees here in looking for inspiration?
The issue here is: how do the various dimensions of humanitarian space
relate to state and interstate space, and state and interstate agency? The next
section will then examine the quality and appropriateness of state agency with
respect to humanitarianism on the basis of the ways in which it is seen to intersect
with humanitarian space.
In practice, of course, humanitarian space is first and foremost a matter of
access, of being able to reach the object of humanitarian concern and provide relief.
The simplest way to guarantee this is through belligerent consent, which often
means the consent of states. Grombach Wagner points out that:
No belligerent in their right mind would consent to the ICRC’s presence if
they could not trust the organisation, or if they felt that the ICRC was being
used to as a Trojan horse to promote the enemy’s wider political agenda,
even if the perceived “enemy” is a properly mandated UN peacekeeping
mission.^15If avowedly-political humanitarians endorse the limited aims of the ICRC, then
perhaps they should think twice before rejecting wholesale the methodology of the
ICRC. Even as they make the case that neutrality is a political choice, they might do
well to recognise that in many conflict situations, the ability of the Red Cross
Movement to deliver humanitarian aid depends on that basic ability to gain access.
14
15 Weiss and Chopra, "Sovereignty under Siege", 88. Italics in original.
Grombach Wagner, "An IHL/ICRC Perspective on ‘Humanitarian Space’".