The Changing Role of Humanitarianism: A Study Guide to the Work of Bernard Kouchner

"The Changing Role of Humanitarianism: A Study Guide to the Work of Bernard Kouchner." Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (2005)

Bernard Kouchner was the co-founder of the Nobel prize-winning Doctors Without Borders. From 1999 to early 2001, he was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. ... Bernard Kouchner’s passion for human rights, his unstinting commitment to humanitarian causes, and his charismatic personality have made him one of the most admired figures of our time. He is regularly voted the “most popular political figure” in his native France, and he was recently chosen as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2004, in the category of “Heroes and Icons.” But his career has not been without controversy. In this brief biography we chart the course of Kouchner’s involvement in humanitarianism. His life is at once a moving story and an up-close look at the fissures within the humanitarian aid community.