'In an era in which most public intellectuals are wildly over-rated, Rony Brauman is wildly under-rated. For more than four decades, first as an aid worker, then as president of MSF/Doctors Without Borders, France, and most recently as head of its research foundation, Brauman has succeeded in being both a leading humanitarian practitioner and the humanitarian international's most interesting and important critical voice. Calling Brauman the conscience of the humanitarian world is perhaps too sentimental, but it is not that wide of the mark. He has also thought and written profoundly and spoken out eloquently on Israel-Palestine, Hannah Arendt and the Eichmann trial, human rights, and humanitarian medicine. In Humanitarian Wars?, Brauman turns his attention to moral and legal justifications for what are all too frequently misdescribed as humanitarian military interventions. That he finds these justifications wanting is no surprise; but never have the reasons why they are incoherent morally and politically and what they conceal about the agendas of the governments that advance them been analysed with such scrupulous rigour and attention to nuance and ambiguity. This is an essential book.' -- David Rieff
'When it comes to humanitarian intervention, a subject that tends to provoke either evangelical defence or polemical demystification, there is no sharper thinker than Rony Brauman. He has wrestled with all the questions it poses before attempting to answer them; and, even then, he admits that no answer is final. His writing isn't simply valuable, it's indispensable: anyone reflecting on modern humanitarianism has an obligation to read him.' -- Adam Shatz
'Rony Brauman has always spoken truth to power. These dialogues are great examples of how a leading humanitarian thinker can help us re-frame our understanding of wars and their so-called humanitarian justifications. A stimulating read.' -- Bertrand Taithe
'[Brauman is] one of those rare creatures in France who truly thinks about war, conflict, and humanitarian engagement.' -- Francois Bonnet, Editor-in-Chief, Mediapart, and former Editor-in-Chief, Le Monde
'Without doubt, Rony Brauman is one of the best informed, most highly respected and most independent voices in France today.' -- Jean-Claude Guillebaud, founder and former director, Reporters Without Borders
