A political scientist by training, Fabrice Weissman joined Médecins sans Frontières in 1995. First as a logistician, then as project coordinator and head of mission, he has worked in many countries in conflict (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, etc.) and more recently in Malawi in response to natural disasters. He is the author of several articles and collective works on humanitarian action, including "In the Shadow of Just Wars. Violence, Politics and Humanitarian Action" (ed., London, Hurst & Co., 2004), "Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed. The MSF Experience" (ed., Oxford University Press, 2011) and "Saving Lives and Staying Alive. Humanitarian Security in the Age of Risk Management" (ed., London, Hurst & Co, 2016). He is also one of the main hosts of the podcast La zone critique.
Fabrice Weissman
NATO and the NGOs: honeymoon over
04/09/2010 Fabrice WeissmanOn March 3, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen sent a direct appeal to the humanitarian community. Acknowledging the limits of military force in the stabilization and reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, he wants to create a closer partnership with the NGOs.
Humanitarian Aid and the International Criminal Court. Grounds for Divorce
10/01/2009 Fabrice WeissmanThis essay points out the fragility of the arguments most often used by humanitarian organizations to justify their support for an international criminal court. Questioning NGOs' infatuation with punitive justice, Fabrice Weissman argues that humanitarian organizations should advocate for politics of aid and mediation rather than for a global moral order based on judicial punishment and just war.
Humanitarian dilemmas in Darfur
07/01/2008 Fabrice WeissmanWith 13,000 humanitarian workers and a hundred relief agencies, Darfur hosts the largest humanitarian operation in the world. The aid apparatus started its full deployment in mid-2004 in a context of acutely high mortality among internally displaced persons (IDPs) gathered in camps and civilians remaining in rural areas.
The Darfur crisis: Humanitarian Aid in the Balance
04/04/2007 Fabrice WeissmanFabrice Weissman is interviewed by Joanne Myers, Carnegie Council, about MSF work in Darfur. He talks about MSF humanitarian medical work, its issues and difficulties.
An appeal for Darfur, Killings and Demagogy
03/23/2007 Jean-Hervé Bradol Fabrice WeissmanJean-Hervé Bradol and Fabrice Weissman respond to Collectif Urgence Darfour's call for armed intervention in Darfur to "stop the massacres," and to promises along these lines by candidates in France's presidential election.
The International reaction to the Darfur Crisis: An Humanitarian Point of View
02/22/2007 Fabrice WeissmanFabrice Weissman looks at the major stages of the Darfur conflict since 2003 from the perspective of a humanitarian medical organisation. He questions the predominant reading of this crisis, and cautions against the illusions of international armed intervention in the region.
Darfur: Humanitarian Aid Held Hostage
11/03/2006 Fabrice WeissmanAid organisations have been held hostage to the showdown between the Sudanese government and the international community.
Military humanitarism: a deadly confusion
08/16/2004 Fabrice WeissmanFabrice Weissman reminds us that while the clarity of the humanitarian emblem is no guarantee of absolute safety, it is nevertheless an essential prerequisite to it.
Humanitarian action and military intervention: Temptations and possibilities
04/28/2004 Fabrice WeissmanUsing the example of Liberia, Fabrice Weissman examines the public statements of NGOs and their positions with regard to denunciation and/or calls for international intervention.