Humanitarian aid to the challenge of political communication The case of the International Crisis Group

This article is based on the observation that there is no consensus on the definition of humanitarian aid. In order to appreciate the diversity and ambivalence of responses to situations qualified as crises, it therefore analyzes the case of an NGO, the International Crisis Group (ICG), which specializes in the prevention of armed conflict through communication that involves humanitarian advocacy, diplomatic lobbying, alerts, political awareness and research. The study of the Group's discursive practices indeed helps to decipher the different languages of an aid industry whose contours are always blurred, from medical relief to military intervention. It also clarifies the difference between mediation by NGOs and advocacy by networks grounded in pacifist values, such as Pax Christi.