Affairs of Humanity: The Religious Origins of Humanitarian Diplomacy in Britain and Europe, 1690-1748

A new look at the origins of humanitarian intervention

We are encouraged to empathize with the suffering of distant strangers every day, from ads for UNICEF to the outcry over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But where did this type of politics come from?

Historian and practicing barrister Catherine Arnold locates the religious origins of humanitarian politics in early eighteenth‑century Britain and Europe. In the late seventeenth century, British politicians argued for “confessional interve...