Humanitarian Intervention

Humanitarian Intervention

Humanitarian intervention involves the use of military force to intervene in a conflict situation. The intervention is not necessarily motivated by state interests and objectives, but is primarily motivated by humanitarian concerns. Humanitarian intervention is often criticized or hindered by objections citing its violation of state sovereignty. Although UN Security Council authorization is ideal in these instances, humanitarian intervention operations have certainly been carried out without such authorization, as for example with NATO’s intervention in Kosovo. The UN initiative Right to Protect, or R2P, was developed for giving clearer guidelines on humanitarian intervention. It outlines the responsibility of states to protect their citizens, the responsibility of the international community to assist other states with their primary responsibility, and the responsibility of the international community to intervene if the state does not uphold their responsibility to protect.

External links and references

• The UN and humanitarian intervention: to protect sovereignty, or to protect lives? (The Economist)
• The Dilemma of Humanitarian Intervention (Council on foreign relations)
• Humanitarian Intervention by David Rieff