Humanitarian Intervention

Literature Review on Humanitarian Intervention

In the Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, [1] Michelle Maiese offers the following summary about the topic of Humanitarian Intervention: Humanitarian intervention is the threat or use of military force primarily for the purpose of protecting the nationals of the target state from gross and systematic human rights violations. These violations result from either the conscious policies of a central regime or the general breakdown of that regime. The use of force may come in a variety of forms, including economic sanctions, arms embargoes, restrictions on income-generating activities, aviation bans, restrictions on diplomatic representation, and suspension of membership or expulsion from international or regional bodies. The discussion here focuses on the use of military force by one or more outside states to relieve grave human suffering.

Proponents

Many heads of state endorsed the 2005 UN World Summit Outcome Document, in relation to the responsibility to protect, where they committed to “use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means […] to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations […].”

Humanitarian Intervention

Embracing mainstream international law, this section on humanitarian intervention explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Entry about Humanitarian Intervention in the Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy (2015, Routledge, Oxford, United Kingdom)

See Also

Further Reading

• Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance (2018, Springer International Publishing, Germany)
• The entry “humanitarian intervention” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press
• Anderson, M. (1999) Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace or War. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
• Ayoob, M. (2001) Humanitarian Intervention and International Society. Global Governance 7, 225–30.
• Barsa, P. (2005) Waging War in the Name of Human Rights? Fourteen Theses about Humanitarian Intervention Perspectives. Central European Review of International Affairs 24, 5–20.
• Bellamy, A.J. (2004) Ethics and Intervention: The “Humanitarian Exception” and the Problem of Abuse in the Case of Iraq. Journal of Peace Research 41 (2), 131–47.
• Buchanan, A. (2003) Reforming the International Law of Humanitarian Intervention. In J.L. Holzgrefe and R.O. Keohane (eds.) Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, Legal and Political Dilemmas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 130–73.
• Chesterman, S. (2002) Just War or Just Peace? Humanitarian Intervention and International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Clarke, W., and Herbst, J. (1997) Learning from Somalia: The Lessons of Armed Humanitarian Intervention. Boulder: Westview Press.
• Cook, M. (2000) “Immaculate War”: Constraints on Humanitarian Intervention. Ethics and International Affairs 14 (1), 55–65.
• Damrosch, L. (ed.) (1993) Enforcing Restraint: Collective Intervention in Internal Conflicts. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press.
• De Waal, A. (2007) Darfur and the Failure of the Responsibility to Protect. International Affairs 83 (6), 1039–54.
• Donini, A., Wermester, K., and Niland, N. (2004) Nation-building Unraveled? Aid, Peace and Justice in Afghanistan. Bloomfield: Kumarian Press.
• Dunant, H. (1986) A Memory of Solferino, 2nd edn. Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross.
• Farer, T. (1996) Intervention in Unnatural Humanitarian Emergencies: Lessons of the First Phase. Human Rights Quarterly 18 (1), 1–22.
• Finnemore, M. (2003) The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Franck, T.M., and Rodley, N.S. (1973) After Bangladesh: The Law of Humanitarian Intervention by Military Force. American Journal of International Law 67 (2), 275–305.
• Harmer, A. (2008) Integrated Missions: A Threat to Humanitarian Security? International Peacekeeping 15 (4), 528–39.
• Hilpold, P. (2001) Humanitarian Intervention: Is There a Need for Legal Reappraisal? European Journal of International Law 12 (2), 437–67.
• Holt, V.K., and Berkman, T.C. (2006) The Impossible Mandate? Military Preparedness, the Responsibility to Protect and Modern Peace Operations. Washington: Henry L. Stimson Center.
• ICISS (2001) The Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.
• ICRC (2004) From the Battle of Solferino to the Eve of the First World War. At www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JNVP, accessed Mar. 2009.
• Independent International Commission on Kosovo (2000) The Kosovo Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kull, S., and Destler, I.M. (1999) Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism. Washington: Brookings Institution.
• Kurth, J. (2005) Humanitarian Intervention after Iraq: Legal Ideals vs. Military Realities. Orbis 50 (1), 87–101.
• Lischer, S.K. (2005) Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War, and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• MacFarlane, N., Thielking, C., and Weiss, T. (2004) The Responsibility to Protect: Is Anyone Interested in Humanitarian Intervention? Third World Quarterly 25 (5), 977–92.
• Malazogu, L. (2003) When Doves Support War and Hawks Oppose It: An Analysis of Humanitarian Intervention in Kosova. In F. Bieber and Ž. Daskalovski (eds.) Understanding the War in Kosovo. Portland: Routledge, pp. 125–45.
• Mandelbaum, M. (1996) Foreign Policy as Social Work. Foreign Affairs 75 (1), 16–32.
• Minear, L. (2002) The Humanitarian Enterprise: Dilemmas and Discoveries. Sterling: Kumerian Press.
• Murphy, S. (1996) Humanitarian Intervention: The United Nations in an Evolving World Order. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• O’Hanlon, M. (1997) Saving Lives with Force: Military Criteria for Humanitarian Intervention. Washington: Brookings Institution.
• Pawlowska, K. (2005) Humanitarian Intervention: Transforming the Discourse. International Peacekeeping 12 (4), 487–50.
• Posen, B.R. (1996) Military Responses to Refugee Disasters. International Security 21 (1), 72–111.
• Rieff, D. (2005) At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Rumpf, H. (1981) Der internationale Schutz der Menschenrechte und das Interventionsverbot. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
• Seybolt, T. (2007) Humanitarian Military Intervention: The Conditions for Success and Failure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Sphere Project (2004) Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Relief. Geneva: Sphere Project.
• Stromseth, J. (2003) Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention: The Case for Incremental Change. In J.L. Holzgrefe and R.O. Keohane (eds.) Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, Legal and Political Dilemmas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 232–72.
• Teson, F.R. (1988) Humanitarian Intervention: An Inquiry into Law and Morality. New York: Transnational.
• Thakur, R. (2006) The United Nations, Peace and Security: From Collective Security to the Responsibility to Protect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• United Nations (2000b) Millennium Report of the Secretary General of the United Nations. New York: United Nations Department of Public Information.
• United Nations (2005a) UN World Summit Outcome Document. United Nations Department of Public Information. At www.un.org/summit2005/presskit/fact_sheet.pdf, accessed Feb. 2009.
• Walzer, M. (1977) Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. New York: Basic Books.
• Weiss, T. (2004) The Sunset of Humanitarian Intervention? The Responsibility to Protect in a Unipolar Era. Security Dialogue 35 (2), 135–53.