Gaza, Trump, USAID : la fin de l'humanitaire ? — Jean-François Corty & Pierre Haski

In Gaza, the October 2025 ceasefire is theoretically holding—but the siege remains, aid trickles in, and some sixty NGOs, including Doctors of the World and Doctors Without Borders, live under the threat of expulsion by the Israeli authorities. In the West Bank, settlement activity is accelerating; in Washington, Donald Trump eliminated USAID in a matter of weeks, abruptly depriving the global humanitarian ecosystem of nearly 40% of its funding. In this landscape, what remains of the international humanitarian law that Western democracies built after 1945? For this new Great Conversation, I am joined by Jean-François Corty, physician, president of Doctors of the World, associate researcher at IRIS, and author of Geopolitics of Humanitarian Action (Eyrolles, 2025). From Gaza to the closure of USAID, from the "Board of Peace" that claims to be a rival to the UN to the rise of "anti-rights" movements in our own democracies, we trace the threads of a historical rupture: the moment when international law, still present as an ideal even when violated, ceases to be a shared horizon and becomes, in the very words of Donald Trump quoted in the interview, a matter of "personal morality." A conversation about what this means for Doctors of the World, for journalists and artists caught in the same offensive, and for the very possibility of an independent humanitarian space in the 21st century. 00:00 Introduction 01:12 Why Gaza marks a turning point in humanitarian history 06:47 Ukraine, Gaza: International law with variable geometry 09:14 Doctors of the World in Gaza: The October 2025 ceasefire is a mirage 14:38 West Bank: Accelerated settlement and the threat of expulsion for NGOs 19:14 Trump's "Board of Peace": Economic annexation and the delegitimization of the UN 21:27 Are we at the end of international humanitarian law? 30:04 Trump and the “Anti-Rights”: Ultraliberalism, Supremacism, Illiberalism 32:53 USAID Closure: The Collapse of 40% of the Humanitarian Ecosystem 40:00 Humanitarian Aid as “Soft Power”: A History of Instrumentalization 44:48 Forgotten Crises, Counter-Terrorism, and Red Lines (From North Korea to Ethiopia, 1984) 49:00 Biden’s Maritime Corridor in Gaza: A Textbook Case of Depoliticization 51:38 Kouchner or Brauman: Two French Legacies of Humanitarianism 53:06 Humanitarians and Journalists: The New Targets 57:19 Why Doctors of the World Called for a Vote Against the Far Right 1:00:01 Resisting: “Unapologetic Solidarity” and “Joyful Struggle” 1:02:12 The Economic Model of Doctors of the World 1:07:07 Decolonizing Aid: Rethinking the Relationship with the Beneficiary 📖 Geopolitics of Humanitarian Action — 40 Illustrated Fact Sheets to Understand the World, Jean-François Corty, Eyrolles Publishing, May 2025. #Gaza #Trump #Israel #Geopolitics #Humanitarian #USAID #InternationalLaw #DoctorsOfTheWorld In partnership with @lenouvelobs / @nouvelobs Find all of Pierre Haski's geopolitical columns on the "Nouvel Obs" website 👉 https://www.nouvelobs.com/la-chroniqu... Images: François Cauwel - Editing: Mathias Lavergne - Graphic Design: Lou Sanchez - Production Managers: Louise Pouchoulon and Nicolas Wiart - Produced by Anthony Dufour. Thanks to the Gaieté Lyrique where this conversation was recorded. Any reproduction, distribution or exploitation of this content, in whole or in part, without prior authorization is strictly prohibited.