Alain Destexhe

Alain Destexhe is secretary general of Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), an international organization that provides medical care to people in danger due to war, epidemics, or natural disasters. In the following viewpoint, Destexhe contends that the United Nations has changed its mission from one of peacekeeping to one of providing humanitarian aid to refugees in war-torn areas. This new “emergency ethic” of supplying food and shelter to the victims of war serves only to salve the conscience of the international community and does little to change their plight, he maintains. He argues that while providing humanitarian aid to warring countries is a moral obligation, it will not prevent future genocide unless the conditions that led to the war are changed and justice...