THIS IS ANOTHER in our series of reports designed to keep the stakeholders of the Humanitarianism and War Project and its increasingly wide circle of users current on our work. This report covers the period since May 10 1996.

Research Activities
Dissemination
Evaluation
Other Items

Work is proceeding on a number of case studies. Our monograph Haiti Held Hostage: International Responses to the Quest for Nationhood 1986-1996 will be published later this month in the Watson Institute Occasional Paper series. Our report War and Humanitarian Action in Chechnya is expected to be available in printed form late in October. Representing the first detailed analysis of the constraints on humanitarian activities provided by the political, historical, and cultural context, this publication by consultants Greg Hansen and Robert Seely should be both timely and ground-breaking. Our study by S. Neil MacFarlane and Larry Minear, Humanitarian Action and Politics: The Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, should be in your hand by year's end. In each of instance, the full text will be placed on our web site several weeks in advance of the circulation of the printed Occasional Paper. We encourage you to download your own copy.

Our study in collaboration with the Fourth Freedom Forum of Indiana and the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame of the humanitarian and political impacts of multilateral economic sanctions is proceeding. A manuscript reflecting work carried out to date, Political Gain and Civilian Pain: The Humanitarian Impact of Economic Sanctions, is being readied for the publisher. In addition to reviews of the impacts of sanctions in Iraq, former Yugoslavia, Haiti, and South Africa, the text contains methodological comments and tentative conclusions. The next phase of the research involves discussions with UN organizations and NGOs regarding their experiences with sanctions, beginning later this month in New York, Rome, Bonn, and Geneva. To date, funds for the sanctions work have been received from the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, UNDP, and WFP. A progress report is expected next spring, a final report next fall. The terms of reference of the research are attached.

In recent months writings associated with the Project have appeared in a number of newspapers and journals. "The Nagorno-Karabakh Time Bomb," by S. Neil MacFarlane and Larry Minear, appeared in the Providence Journal and on the Knight-Ridder news service. Larry Minear's "The Humanitarian and Military Interface: Reflections on the Rwanda Experience," will appear in a US journal later this month.

Also helpful in putting our work into context is an extended review by William DeMars, formerly at the University of Notre Dame, now at the American University in Cairo, in the Mershon International Studies Review. Noting our international focus and ownership, DeMars describes the Project as representing "the most articulate voice of the U.S. humanitarian community." He credits it with conveying "the human texture of humanitarian work" and with making practical recommendations. He faults the Project for understating the clashes of views within the humanitarian and human rights communities and for isolating humanitarian principles from the political process. While we might differ with DeMar's reading at various points, we are pleased with the detailed review he has given our work and commend his article to you.

The publication by the OECD in English and French of Soldiers to the Rescue: Humanitarian Lessons from Rwanda by Larry Minear, delayed during the summer, is now scheduled for September 19 in Paris. The book's conclusions are summarized in Minear's attached journal article.

We are pleased to welcome Margareta Levitsky to our ranks as staff assistant. Having begun late last year on a temporary basis, she is now providing part-time administrative and secretarial support for our activities.