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Humanitarian Intervention Essay, Research Paper

Humanitarian Intervention Introduction With the end of the Cold War there has been a profound increase in the interest taken by the international community in the area of Humanitarian intervention. Being in the military, and studying politics and history, it is safe to say that all of us here are familiar with Humanitarian Intervention in one form or another. Be it Northern Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, or Rwanda, it has been clear that human rights have become a priority. Tonight s presentation will discuss Humanitarian Intervention. Specifically, it will illustrate the following; -What is Humanitarian Intervention? -The History of Humanitarian Intervention -Changes in doctrine -What brought about the changes -The recent trend, and unfolding precedents -Recent Examples -Iraq -Somalia -Haiti -Rwanda -Supporters of Humanitarian Intervention -Non-supporters -Problems with Humanitarian Intervention -The Future of Humanitarian Intervention What is Humanitarian Intervention Humanitarian Intervention can be defined as those instances in which a nation or group of nations use military force to intervene in the territory of another state for the purpose of protecting a sizable group of indigenous people from life-threatening or other infractions of their human rights. In political science terms, there are two forms of Humanitarian intervention. -Politically Motivated Humanitarian Intervention This form of humanitarian intervention occurs when the political interests of the power or powers involved are the major reason for the intervention. This form of intervention can also be seen as an effort to bypass the sovereignty of a state, and impose the will and interests of the power or powers involved. A good example of this form of intervention was the US led intervention into the Kurdish areas of Iraq. This intervention, is seen to be politically motivated in that it resulted in the declaration of a substantial amount of Iraqi territory deemed to be out of bounds to Iraqi forces. The other form of Humanitarian Intervention is known as Politically Innocent Humanitarian Intervention. This form of humanitarian intervention does not take in account and address the political causes of the problem from the beginning. In this form of intervention, focus is made directly on human rights issues; however, it must be noted that this form of intervention suffers the most, because it is generally undertaken without a realistic assessment of costs and benefits. History of Humanitarian Intervention Notwithstanding the differences between the two types of humanitarian intervention, humanitarian intervention has had an interesting history, and is rapidly developing. There was a time prior to WWII when unilateral military intervention for strictly humanitarian purposes was regarded as legitimate by a large community of international law scholars. There has been many significant developments in the areas of humanitarian intervention since the end of the Second World War. With the oncoming of the Cold War following WWII, the legitimacy of intervention in another state s affairs was drastically reduced. In fact, given the nature of the Cold War, most scholars believed that to invoke a principal of intervention would only create more complex problems and would only serve to disrupt the nation state system and would permit the forcible pursuit of political, economic, and security objectives that were far removed from alleged humanitarian concerns. Thus, the vast majority of scholars and states themselves pursed a policy of non-intervention during the Cold War. Although sympathetic to humanitarian issues, the norms of sovereignty, and non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states clearly characterized the Cold War period, and in fact, was actually articulated in the united Nation s charter. In the post-Cold War era however, there have been many significant changes to the theories of humanitarian intervention. Foremost, with the end of the Cold War, there has been a new standard of intolerance for human misery and human atrocities around the world. Human rights have become a priority in politics and international affairs. For example, even states applying to join NATO s partnership for peace exercises are required to commit to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Similarly, international financial institutions such as the World Bank have imposed various political conditionalities, including respect for human rights as a prerequisite for receiving financial loans and aid. More importantly, in the United Nations, there has been a fundamental link made between the need for human rights and international peace and security. Thus, it is easy to see that there has been a significant shift in the perception of humanitarian intervention. To better understand this shift, and where humanitarian intervention is headed, it is important to understand why the shift is taking place. -Sovereignty Sovereignty is the central pillar of international law. For centuries, sovereignty identified the nation-state as the legitimate international actor entitled to the protection of international law. With the end of the Cold War, and developing theories on the nation-state, the national premise of sovereignty does not prevail as it has in the past. This change in the status of the nation state has been brought about due to the increase of actors in the international arena. There are many ethnic groups struggling for self-determination, millions of refugees and displaced people fleeing from war, oppression and other tragedies. Moreover, there are hundreds of international organizations exercising jurisdiction across national borders. Each one of these factors can or is, challenging the sovereign power of the nation state, and thus has recently limited its status in the international environment, more so, now than ever. In addition, the proliferation of international treaties, many

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