Smillie (Partnership Africa Canada) and Minear (Humanitarianism and War Project, Tufts University) argue that much of what passes for humanitarianism today is a commercial enterprise. They probe the reasons behind governmental and nongovernmental responses to urgent human need, and explain why some crises get the lion's share of attention while others are forgotten. Contrasting cases in Afghanistan, East Timor, and Sierra Leone, they illustrate how foreign policy and domestic politics have shaped what has become the business of humanitarianism, and call for a revamped humanitarian structure. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)