The Liberal Order and the Fight for the Soul
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Show Notes
In this episode of Edgy Ideas, Simon Western speaks with Gareth Owen OBE, former Humanitarian Director of Save the Children UK, about what it means to practice humanitarianism in a world where the global order is shifting rapidly. Drawing on more than three decades working in conflict zones - from Somalia and Angola to leadership roles shaping global humanitarian response - Gareth reflects on how humanitarian work has evolved. He describes how the aid sector grew alongside the post-Second World War liberal order, and how today that system is fragmenting under geopolitical tensions, rising authoritarianism and declining global cooperation.
A key theme in the conversation is the growing bureaucratisation of humanitarian institutions. Gareth and Simon explore two key issues. Firstly the widening gap between frontline human suffering and the managerial systems that increasingly govern aid delivery. Secondly the breakdown of the liberal international order and what it means for humanitarian work. The discussion turns to what Gareth calls the potential “loss of the humanitarian soul” - the relational depth, moral courage and human connection that once anchored the sector. Rather than turn to nostalgia for the past, Gareth argues for a renewal grounded in solidarity, human-centred leadership, and new alliances that emerge beyond traditional institutions.
Ultimately, the conversation asks a simple but demanding question: in an uncertain and fractured world, what are we each willing to stand up for?
Key Reflections
- Humanitarianism is not a role or title; it is something learned through deep proximity to suffering.
- The humanitarian sector has become over-bureaucratised, often distancing itself from the people it claims to serve.
- The liberal rules-based order is breaking down, and with it the structures that once gave humanitarianism legitimacy and support.
- Aid institutions are caught between external political collapse and internal managerial systems that drain imagination and moral energy.
- The loss of reflective space inside organisations weakens their ethical compass and disconnects them from purpose.
- Humanitarian soul is rooted in relational depth, truth-telling, solidarity, and the willingness to remain open to pain.
- Real hope does not come from nostalgia for the old order, but from building new alliances, mutuality, and political courage.
- Change begins with self, but must move outward into communities, ecosystems, and collective action.
Humanitarianism, liberal order, solidarity, aid sector, bureaucracy, managerialism, soul at work, ecosystems, leadership, mutuality, geopolitics, reflection, trauma, global crisis, moral courage
Brief Bio
Gareth Owen is the former Humanitarian Director of Save the Children UK (2007-2024). One of the sector’s most accomplished, influential and creative humanitarian practitioners; a passionate and inspirational leader of global renown; strategic thinker and critical reflector; outstanding communicator, systemic collaborator, team builder, talent developer, fundraiser and champion of change; chief architect of some of the humanitarian system’s most innovative and forward-looking collective initiatives. Over two decades, he crafted and led the growth of Save the Children UK’s humanitarian work and had a defining influence on the global Save the Children movement’s humanitarian renaissance. He built to worldwide pre-eminence a Humanitarian Department of 300 professionals then latterly initiated its consolidation and downsizing to catalyse shifting of power. In parallel, he co-founded and incubated the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, Elrha, the START Network, the Collaborative Cash Delivery Network and The Alameda Institute. A leading contemporary figure in the humanitarian sector, Gareth now offers his wealth of experience as a consultant, coach, author and lecturer.