International Relations Essay 2 ONLY ONTIME
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The Globalization of World Politics (6e)
31. Humanitarian intervention in world politics
Baylis, Smith & Owens
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The case for humanitarian intervention
• The legal (aka counter-restrictionist) case for humanitarian intervention rests on two claims: – The 1945 UN Charter commits states to
protect fundamental human rights (which should be just as important as peace and security)
– There is a right of humanitarian intervention in customary international law (as for example evidenced by legal arguments offered to justify the British, French, and Russian intervention in Greece (1827)
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The case for humanitarian intervention
• The moral case for humanitarian intervention can be traced back to the idea of sovereignty, that derives from a state responsibility to protect its citizens – When a state fails in this duty, it should
lose its sovereign rights • It is also possible to argue that individuals
have human rights – and duties to uphold the rights of others
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The case against humanitarian intervention
• There is no basis for humanitarian intervention in international law
• States do not intervene for primarily humanitarian reasons
• States are not allowed to risk the lives of their soldiers to save strangers
• The problem of abuse • Selectivity of response • Disagreements about moral principles • Intervention does not work
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The 1990s: a golden era of humanitarian activism?
• The 1990s saw a dramatic increase in the number of humanitarian interventions
• Humanitarian sentiments were not decisive drivers of these interventions – Most interventions were prompted by
mixed motives • Interventions were more successful in stopping
immediate killing; less successful in building long- term peace
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The 1990s: a golden era of humanitarian activism?
• The UN Security Council has gradually expanded its list of what counts as a threat to the peace: – Human suffering – The overthrow of democratic government – State failure – Refugee movements – Ethnic cleansing
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The responsibility to protect (RtoP)
• In 1999, NATO decided to intervene militarily during the Kosovo crisis to stop heinous violence against civilians – despite not having a UN Security Council mandate to do so
• An international commission found NATO’s activities to be ‘illegal but legitimate’
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The responsibility to protect (RtoP)
• As a consequence, Canada decided to establish an International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2000
• In 2001, the Commission released its report, entitled Responsibility to Protect, which homed in on the protection needs of victims
• It was strongly endorsed by Kofi Annan in 2002, and enjoyed rapid rise in importance as a result
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The responsibility to protect (RtoP)
• The report argued that Security Council authorization was always preferable, but that there were still conceivable situations where intervention might be considered legitimate even without such authorization
• The Right to Protect norm was unanimously endorsed by the 2005 world Summit, and later formalized as a UN General Assembly resolution
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The three pillars on which the Right to Protect rests
• Pillar I – The primary responsibility of the state to
protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, and from their incitement
• Pillar II – the international community’s responsibility to
assist and encourage states to fulfil their responsibility to protect
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The three pillars on which the Right to Protect rests
• Pillar III – The international community’s
responsibility to take timely and decisive action to protect populations from the four crimes through diplomatic, humanitarian, and other peaceful means and, on a case-by- case basis, if peaceful means ‘prove inadequate’ and national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations, other more forceful means
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
The responsibility to protect (RtoP)
• The responsibility to protect principle has been used in several different settings since 2005
• The use of force for protection purposes continues to be highly controversial
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
• In 2003–04, Sudan and its associated militia unleashed what the UN describes as a ‘reign of terror’ in Darfur
• The international response was slow: – The African Union deployed a small
mission that proved incapable of protecting civilians – It was replaced in 2007 by joint
UN/AU mission
Case study 1: Darfur – barriers to intervention
Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 6e
• The slow response highlights the com- plexities of humanitarian intervention: – There were few military intervention options
given the proliferation of militia groups, and the lack of Sudanese consent
– Intervention might have encouraged the Sudanese government to close access to aid agencies
– It might have dashed hopes for a peace agreement between Sudan and the South Sudanese rebels
– Russia and China were resolutely against coercion – Western militaries were overstretched by other
commitments
Case study 1: Darfur – barriers to intervention