Human Security Intelligence: Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Complex Emergencies

Abstract

Humanitarian crises may arise from natural disasters, such as droughts, floods and earthquakes, or they may be caused or exacerbated by human beings through armed conflict. The latter are often referred to as ‘complex emergencies’. These emergencies call for holistic international responses that need to be coordinated across the variety of humanitarian and military actors. The responses require a great deal of information, situational aware. ness and occasionally secret intelligence. But the information contained in open sources usually provides ample basis for those organisations seeking to respond positively to these crises.