When Empathy Fades: The Collapse of Humanitarian Responsibility in a Structurally Broken World

Abstract

Global humanitarianism is undergoing one of the most turbulent periods of change in modern history. Empathy, understood not as sentiment but as the recognition of shared vulnerability and interdependence, has historically underpinned the rationale for humanitarianism. When empathy fades, the retreat of empathy is not just a crisis of compassion but a reflection of deeper political trends: the decline of ODA as a structuring principle, the securitisation of displacement, the instrumentalisation of aid, and the growing disconnect between innovation and inclusion. It demands a structural realignment in how global governance treats exposure to risk, capacity for resilience and responsibility for injustice.