The War on Rescue (2024) by William Plowright draws on its author’s extensive experience as a humanitarian aid worker across Africa and the Middle East. The book examines the mass migration of millions from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia toward Europe between roughly 2015 and 2020. The bulk of the argument is informed by interview data, collated by region to form coherent case studies. Plowright’s multiregional approach, balanced by the fine-tuned interview data, allows him to fruitfully bridge theory and practice.

The book is organized in seven main chapters and begins by framing the so-called “European Migration Crisis” as a complex, dynamic, and multifaceted series of events, characterized by the obstruction of humanitarian assistance. The author criticizes this kind of “crisis framing,” acknowledging that the crux of the issue is political, and not migratory. He contends that obstruction of aid is not merely reactionary, but rather a systematically planned and executed strategy. Moreover, the author presents how this strategy is not exclusive to authoritarian states, finding a foothold in several Western democracies. Plowright frames this as a humanitarian catastrophe exacerbated by European governments, worsened by deliberate obstruction of aid delivery and search and rescue operations. This conclusion is drawn from qualitative interviews with international and local humanitarian organizations, including doctors without borders (chapter 5) and smaller nongovernmental groups in the Balkans, Germany, and Denmark (chapter 6).

The War on Rescue offers a multifaceted framework through which to understand why states obstruct humanitarian assistance. His argument identifies seven features that contextualize this approach by states: (1) economic incentives, such as taxing or redirecting aid for gain; (2) proxy issue linkage; (3) perceived domestic security threats; (4) attempts to weaken local and global opponents through warfighting and state-sponsored violence; (5) the concealment of crimes or abuses; (6) threats to government stability, including electoral risks; and (7) threats to national image or identity, where aid challenges cultural or paternalistic norms (p. 5 and chapter 2). In the European context, economic concerns and identity threats amplified by populism dominated the rationale for obstruction, while warfighting was more salient in conflict zones like Yemen.

Beyond this framework, the book also analyses the specific tactics for how states carry out this obstructive strategy. Like the rationale framework, Plowright lists seven tactics: (1) reframing rights and responsibilities, and denying obligations to vulnerable populations; (2) reframing people in need as threats (e.g., security, health or cultural); (3) employing bureaucratic obstruction, like visa delays or registration hurdles; (4) exacerbating financial difficulties via funding withdrawal; (5) arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment; (6) threats, harassment, and violence; and (7) misinformation and disinformation campaigns (pp. 5–6 and chapter 3). Thus, the obstruction of aid can be implemented with tactics that fit within the institutional norms of both authoritarian and democratic politics. Plowright argues that these dynamics have led to direct conflict with state actors, with humanitarian organizations facing legal barriers and institutional violence.

Plowright’s analysis shows that in the last decade, European governments attempted to deter, stop, or redirect forced migration by prioritizing security over humanitarian concerns. His analysis critiques the politicization of aid, warning of broader implications for global humanitarianism amid rising populism and increased international displacement. Obstruction of humanitarian aid reflects a global trend where states prioritize control over compassion, directed by security concerns and electoral pressures. States implemented policies blocking or criminalizing humanitarian aid efforts, functionally treating them as threats to state sovereignty or facilitators of smuggling and illegal migration. Plowright contrasts this with the resilience of humanitarians, who adapt through advocacy, legal challenges, and grassroots efforts despite diminishing resources and rising right-wing populism and anti-migrant politics. This aligns with broader research on the theory and politics of humanitarianism as embodied in the work of David Rieff, Larissa Fast, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Abby Stoddard, and Antonio De Lauri. It adds to the conversation around securitization and sovereignty studies, most famously addressed by Barry Buzan and Jef Huysmans, as well as refugee politics research by Alexander Betts and Gil Loescher.

The concluding chapter addresses the Eurocentric biases endemic in the aid industry, and advocates for its “Diversification, Decolonization and De-Europeanization,” in the style of postcolonial scholars such as Olivia Umurerwa Rutazibwa. Plowright’s critiques of Eurocentric humanitarian principles, such as “humanity,” “impartiality,” and “independence,” are prominent. In particular, he stresses the hypocrisy of NGOs headquartered in a “safe” Europe and led by Westerners relying on poorly remunerated staff and beneficiaries in the comparatively “unsafe” Global South.

The research advances the argument that Western democracies have mastered the provision of aid and assistance abroad while actively blocking its domestic equivalent, a stark reminder of the suffering incurred by migrants today. Plowright wraps up his book with a normative appeal, urging both donors and humanitarian aid staffers to critically examine state incentives to provide or deny aid, especially amid foreseen consequences of climate change and projections of future global displacements.

This topic is as salient as it is timely, and it resonates with contemporary debates on European migration, asylum and border policy. Despite many strengths, the book has several minor shortcomings. Its restricted timeframe excludes post-2020 developments like the war in Ukraine, the disastrous humanitarian situation at the Polish-Belarusian border, and the stark differences in acceptance between displaced persons from Ukraine and similarly disadvantaged migrants from Asia and Africa. A brief epilogue addressing these trends would have rounded out the book, and more comprehensively criticized the European policy approach to migration and border policy. As it stands now, the reader may get the impression that obstruction of aid is merely a particular, national tactic of “democratic” member states, overlooking the imposition of supranational legal and institutional mechanisms onto the local realities and microdynamics of humanitarian assistance.

For example, in the late summer of 2015, the Croatian and Serbian governments took a prohumanitarian stance by organizing immediate reception, assistance, and transit of Europe-bound migrants. Local NGOs cooperated with the state, as did bigger international actors like UNHCR and IOM, only to be later antagonized through a securitized lens. The complex roles of various actors are not fully reflected in the analysis, and it largely ignores the counter-dynamics when civil society, humanitarian efforts, and grassroots initiatives come together to oppose obstructive state strategies. Illuminating this coalition building could provide insights into the legacy of the long “summer of migration.” While Plowright’s clarity in writing makes this book accessible to a broader audience, it does not sufficiently address the depth and breadth of state control to satisfy the practitioner seeking actionable guidance.

Notwithstanding, The War on Rescue is a significant and novel contribution to political science, humanitarian studies, and migration and refugee studies, offering a critical perspective on the obstruction of humanitarian aid through cross-regional comparisons. Its rigorous analysis and policy critiques are relevant for academics, aid workers, policymakers, and potentially donors. Despite minor flaws, its contributions outweigh its few shortcomings. The book focuses on Europe, but its global parallels broaden its appeal, making it a good read for any reader interested in migration or humanitarianism, offering frameworks for analyzing humanitarian assistance obstruction and human costs of state power.