The tragic death in Baghdad in 2003 of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, brought into bitter relief the challenges faced by peacekeepers and humanitarian aid workers.

The contributors to this book, all leading scholars and practitioners, offer invaluable perspectives on many of the most important political, legal, social, and military challenges confronting humanitarian aid in a world of terror and conflict. These original essays explore such topics as human rights and the rights of the displaced, working with local communities to rebuild viable governance, justice, and the rule of law, and maintaining safe spaces for humanitarian relief programs in zones of conflict.

The contributors are: Kevin M. Cahill, Joseph McShane, S.J., Sadako Ogata, Irene Khan, Francis Deng, Mark Malloch Brown, Ghassan Salame, Roland Eng, Jan Egeland, Peter Hansen, David Rieff, Jacques Forster, Dennis McNamara, David Owen, Richard Goldstone, Sasha Tharoor, and Jan Eliasson.