Reframing Humanitarian Aid: The Vietnamese Case to Bring Back Reparations

Kuzey Karakaya, Chiara Reginaldi, Giulia Ristagno, Konstantin Saalfeld

This essay examines the decline of reparations as a guiding principle in international politics and asks whether their reintroduction could lead to more just and durable post-war outcomes. Starting from the long-standing legal idea that causing harm creates an obligation to repair it, the paper traces how this logic once shaped both law and early forms of economic compensation. It then turns to post-war Vietnam as a central case study, analysing the scale of wartime destruction, the unfulfilled US promise of reconstruction aid, and the long-term economic and humanitarian consequences that followed. By situating Vietnam alongside twentieth-century experiences with reparations after the two World Wars, the essay contrasts punitive, ineffective models with cooperative reconstruction efforts. It argues that modern humanitarian aid often obscures responsibility by framing assistance as charity rather than obligation. The paper concludes by suggesting that treating post-conflict reconstruction as a form of accountability could reshape how the costs of war are understood and allocated.