"Interventionist Aid and the War in Ukraine"

Aid policies in the first year of the war in Ukraine constitute a unique and unprecedented historical case destined to leave an “echo” in the international system far beyond those of the individual Ukrainian case and the aid sector alone. Using a realist theoretical approach in which International Aid Public Policies (IAPPs) are a central variable in the history of international relations, this article starts with the eight peculiarities of Ukrainian aid that emerged from a recent comparison with the start of the Bosnian War in 1992. That is proposed to contextualise their political, conceptual, and historical implications within the evolution of inter-state aid. The interaction of these peculiarities has established a new model of Interventionist Aid as opposed to the neutralist model that had characterised Western aid in the past: the provision of humanitarian-emergency or development cooperation initiatives. The new type of aid analysed herein is wide-ranging (military, financial, political, etc.), takes an active part in the crisis to condition its course and outcome, and defines primarily political and not humanitarian objectives. Thus, it functions according to the tactical requirements of the scenario. New unregulated practices of Weaponisation of Aid and Aidisation of Weapons make Interventionist Aid an anarchic yet central element of warfare. The prospect of its eventual consolidation among the foundational elements of a new world order prompts speculation about future national scenarios of Post-Democracy Aid and international scenarios of World War Aid.