Hugo Slim

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Hugo John Robertson Slim (born 1961) is a British academic and policy advisor in International Relations specialising in the ethics of war and humanitarian aid.

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Slim has written about the nature of contemporary conflict, the protection of civilians and the ethics of humanitarian aid. He is currently a senior research fellow at the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford and also at the Blavatnik School of Government.

Early life and education

Slim is the second son of John Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim, and Elisabeth "Buffy" Slim, née Spinney. He was educated at Broadlands Primary School in Hereford and St George's School, Windsor before going to Eton College and then to St John's College, Oxford where he studied Theology. He received his PhD (on the basis of published work) from Oxford Brookes University in 2002.

Contribution to ethics

Slim's writing on war is distinct for its determined focus on the civilian experience of war and the moral arguments he uses to justify the "civilian ethic" in armed conflict. [1] His book, Killing Civilians (2007) used a historical perspective to establish "seven spheres of suffering" that are typical for civilians in war, and criticised a spectrum of "anti-civilian ideologies" in political and military policy that deliberately drive this suffering. [1] [2]

Slim has also pioneered a new turn in the applied ethics of Humanitarian Aid. This began with a paper "Doing the Right Thing: Relief Agencies, Moral Dilemmas and Moral Responsibility in Political Emergencies and War" (Disasters 21:3, 1997). [3] His book, Humanitarian Ethics: The Morality of Aid in War and Disaster (2015) framed a new field of practical humanitarian ethics. This has influenced scholars, policymakers and practitioners in humanitarian aid who are now using and critiquing Slim's approach. [4] [5]

Life and career

Slim has combined a career in academia, policy and practice. He started his career in 1983 with Save the Children UK, working in Morocco, Sudan and Ethiopia and as a field officer for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Ethiopia. [6] Returning to the UK, he worked on Save the Children's Middle East Desk during the first Intifada and the Iraqi Kurdish refugee crisis in Turkey, before becoming Senior Research Officer from 1992 to 1994. [7]

He was appointed senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University in 1994 to co-lead the new Masters in Development and Humanitarian Practice with Nabeel Hamdi at the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP). [8] In 2001, Hamdi and Slim won a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education for their "exceptional innovation in the education of humanitarian professionals." [9]

Slim has since worked at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva and as a senior research fellow at the Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) at the University of Oxford [10] where he co-founded the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights with Professor Cheyney Ryan and other US academics in 2012. [11] From 2015 to 2020, he was head of policy at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. [12]

Slim has been a Trustee of Oxfam GB and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and a visiting professor at the University of Oregon and the Graduate Institute in Geneva. [13]

Personal life

Slim is married to Asma Khaliq Awan, an international humanitarian worker from Pakistan. He has two children from his first marriage to the writer and journalist, Rebecca Abrams.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement</span> International humanitarian movement

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering. Within it there are three distinct organisations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations.

Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, because some non-combatants are not civilians. Civilians in the territories of a party to an armed conflict are entitled to certain privileges under the customary laws of war and international treaties such as the Fourth Geneva Convention. The privileges that they enjoy under international law depends on whether the conflict is an internal one or an international one.

Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities; persons, such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent armed forces but are protected because of their specific duties ; combatants who are placed hors de combat; and neutral persons, such as peacekeepers, who are not involved in fighting for one of the belligerents involved in a war. This particular status was first recognized under the Geneva Conventions with the First Geneva Convention of 1864.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian aid</span> Material or logistical assistance for people in need

Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Humanitarian relief efforts are provided for humanitarian purposes and include natural disasters and man-made disasters. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may, therefore, be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the conflation is viewed critically by practitioners.

International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war. It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by protecting persons who are not participating in hostilities and by restricting and regulating the means and methods of warfare available to combatants.

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There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here, humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response whether in the case of a natural disaster or a man-made disaster such as war or other armed conflict. Humanitarian principles govern the way humanitarian response is carried out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies</span> Humanitarian organization

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geneva Conventions</span> International treaties of war

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALNAP</span> UK-based non-profit organization

ALNAP is a UK based non-profit organization that works to increase learning and accountability in the humanitarian aid sector.

<i>Targeted Killing in International Law</i> Book by Nils Melzer

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Nils Melzer is a Swiss academic, author, and practitioner in the field of international law. Since 1 November 2016, Melzer has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He is a professor of international law at the University of Glasgow and holds the Human Rights Chair at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Switzerland. He has been teaching there since 2009, including as the Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law (2011–2013).

<i>Targeted Killings</i> 2012 book edited by Claire Finkelstein, Jens David Ohlin, and Andrew Altman

Targeted Killings: Law and Morality in an Asymmetrical World is a non-fiction compilation book about targeted killing edited by Claire Finkelstein, Jens David Ohlin, and Andrew Altman. It was published by Oxford University Press in 2012. The book grew out of contributions by the authors to a conference in April 2011 at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Targeted Killings features eighteen essays in five sections arranged by topic. The work argues that after the 11 September attacks by Al-Qaeda in 2001, the United States and other countries began to see the tactic of targeted killing differently. The practice of targeted killing had previously been accepted in situations of self-defence in military settings; after 11 September 2001 it was used to kill non-combatants and those not directly involved in a particular armed force.

<i>Hard Choices</i> (Moore book)

Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas in Humanitarian Intervention is a non-fiction compilation book about humanitarianism on the international arena, edited by Jonathan Moore. Noteworthy contributors to the book include: Kofi A. Annan, Rony Brauman, Romeo A. Dallaire, Richard J. Goldstone, J. Bryan Hehir, Michael Ignatieff, Ian Martin, Elizabeth Reid, Mohamed Sahnoun, Mu Sochua, Cornelio Sommaruga, Roger Williamson, and José Zalaquett. It was published in paperback format by Rowman & Littlefield in 1998.

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References

  1. 1 2 Helen M. Kinsella (2008). "Targeting Civilians in War, and Killing Civilians: Methods, Madness and Morality in War". Ethics & International Affairs. Carnegie council for ethics and international affairs. 22 (4).
  2. ↑ Hugo Slim (2007). Killing Civilians: Methods, Madness and Morality in War. Hurst and Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0199326549.
  3. ↑ Slim, Hugo (1997). "Doing the Right Thing:Relief Agencies, Moral Dilemmas and Moral Responsibility in Political Emergencies and War". Disasters. 21 (3): 244–257. doi:10.1111/1467-7717.00059. PMID   9301139.
  4. ↑ Fiona Terry (2015). "Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster Hugo Slim". International Review of the Red Cross. 97 (897/898): 469–475. doi:10.1017/S1816383115000624. S2CID   143241114.
  5. ↑ Katherine Haver. "Tug of war: ethical decision-making to enable humanitarian access in high-risk environments". Humanitarian Practice Network. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "OXPOL: Hugo Slim". University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "Humanitarian War and Policy Blogs: Hugo Slim". ICRC. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "CENDEP: Postgraduate taught masters". Oxford Brookes. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  9. ↑ Built Environment(PDF). 1: 3. 2009 http://static.brookes.ac.uk/department/tde/media/resources/be001.pdf.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ Neate, Rupert (4 June 2014). "Desmond Tutu tells G4S to stop supplying to Israel prisons". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "Oxford Consortium for Human Rights: About Us". Oxford Consortium. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  12. ↑ "ICRC: Hugo Slim". ICRC. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "The Individualisation of War: Hugo Slim". European University Institute. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
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