Search

Nonostante gli innumerevoli tentativi, una dottrina dell'intervento umanitario non si è mai affermata. Quali sono, dunque, gli ostacoli che impediscono di dare legittimità all'uso della forza per salvare vite umane in pericolo? La risposta che suggerisce il libro è antiretorica. Gli impedimenti ultimi a una dottrina dell'intervento umanitario non sono il principio di sovranità, l'assenza di volontà politica o un deficit democratico a livello internazionale. È piuttosto la stessa natura dell'intervento a scopi umanitari a renderlo un oggetto intrattabile: la sua natura offensiva, contro chi non ci minaccia; la sua elusiva obbligazione politica, che pretende di mettere a rischio la vita dei propri soldati per difendere quella di cittadini stranieri; il persistente dilemma fra azione preventiva (sempre sospetta) e un intervento tardivo (legittimo ma inefficace); e infine, la drammatica imperfezione dello strumento militare nel perseguire scopi autenticamente umanitari.

This book revisits and interrogates the evolution of the Responsibility to Protect in search of the root cause of R2P's failure to date.Employing a critical constructivist lens throughout, the book locates the origin of that apparent failure in the close association of R2P with humanitarian intervention. In returning to the ideational underpinnings and broader ambitions of R2P's architects, the analysis reveals that reducing R2P to little more than a “solution” to the long-standing problem(s) confronting humanitarian intervention betrayed its fundamental purpose: advancing a new norm of, and for, human security provision. Employing a modified version of the norm life-cycle model as a diagnostic tool, the author uncovers the underlying dynamics of R2P's normative stagnation over the past two decades. The book concludes with a prescriptive remedy in the form of a two-part blueprint for reconstructing and reanimating R2P's normative agenda for an international society confronted by mounting and existential threats to humanity.This book will be of much interest to scholars and students of the Responsibility to Protect, human rights, security studies, and international relations in general.

Despite repeated declarations of ‘never again'in response to the commission of atrocities, civilians have continued to be targeted by their leaders and opposition groups. The international law principles of sovereignty and non-intervention, when taken at their highest, require States to stand idle and not intervene in another State regardless of what atrocities may be occurring there. This traditional legal view is being challenged by an emerging practice of States choosing to respond in non-forceful ways, inspired by the concept of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Drawing on R2P, this book introduces and develops an original conceptual tool –intercession –to capture and explain this change in State practice and the impact of R2P on the development of international law. Through a close examination of State practice, the work explores whether there has been an expansion in the permissible measures and situations in which States can intervene, without using force, in response to atrocity crimes occurring in other States. This book concludes that the development of the secondary duty on the international community under R2P provides the greatest opportunity to progress the R2P framework in a meaningful way, which will have a significant impact on the protection of populations from atrocity crimes. The book will be essential reading for students, researchers and policymakers working in the areas of international law, international relations, humanitarian law, and peace and security studies.

The decision to mount an armed foreign intervention is one of the most consequential that a US president can take. This book sets out to explain why and when presidents choose to use force. The book examines decisions to use force throughout the post-Cold War period, via flashpoints including the Balkans, the ‘War on Terror'and the Middle East. It develops new explanations for variation in the use of force in US foreign policy by theorizing and demonstrating the effects of the displacement and repression of ideas within and across different US presidential administrations, from George H.W. Bush to Donald Trump. For students, scholars and anyone with an interest in international relations and global security, this book is an original perspective on a defining issue of recent decades.

Human Rights at Risk brings together social scientists, legal scholars, and humanities scholars to analyze the policy challenges of human rights protection in the twenty-first century. The volume is organized based on three overarching themes that highlight the challenges and risks in international human rights: international institutions and global governance of human rights; thematic blind spots in human rights protection; and the human rights challenges of the United States as a global and domestic actor amidst the contemporary global shifts to authoritarianism and illiberal populism. One of the very few books that offer new perspectives that envision the future of transnational human rights norms and human dignity from a multidisciplinary perspective, Human Rights at Risk comprehensively examines the causes and consequences of the challenges faced by international human rights. Scholars, students, and policy practitioners who are interested in the challenges and reform prospects of the international human rights regime, United States foreign policy, and international institutions will find this multidisciplinary volume an invaluable guide to the state of global politics in the twenty-first century.

This book provides humanitarian practitioners and policy makers with a manual for how to apply foresight and strategy in their work. Drawing on extensive research, the book demonstrates in practical terms how embedding futures-focused thinking into practice can help humanitarian actors to enhance their impact and fit for the future. The book provides readers with a step-by-step guide to an innovative combination of tools and methods tested and refined over the course of several years. However, it also goes beyond this, by grounding the approach within the broader ambition of making humanitarian action more effective. Overall, the analytical and strategic processes outlined in this book will accompany a decision maker through every stage of creating a robust, agile and impactful long-term strategy. This accessible guide will be an essential point of reference for practitioners and decision makers in the humanitarian ecosystem, as well as students studying humanitarian affairs, global development, conflict studies and international relations.

This study launches a systematic inquiry into the nature of the concept of humanitarian intervention, focusing on its primary function of the protection of the endangered civilian populations who find themselves at the grave risk of genocide. This is strengthened by a recollection of selected historical examples of similar events and the responses to them by the international community, empowered by our modern understanding of the principle of state sovereignty, human rights, and anti-genocide legislation. Applying the in-statu-nascendi ontology that accounts for the latest hybridized compartmentalization of various IR-related theories, the author provides a deep ontological inquiry into the nature, origin, and genesis of the idea of humanitarian intervention and opens up a broader debate on the limits of the principle of state sovereignty as well as on the international community's ignorance of some of the most severe cases of human rights abuses around the world.

This book reveals why the UN is more successful than unilateral great powers in protecting civilians from violence, and focuses on the discourse, development and consequences of UN peacekeeping. Analysing statistics of state fragility and fatalities of violence, it reveals that the UN has managed to save tens of thousands of lives with its peacekeeping: a surprising statistic given the media consensus about the UN's powerlessness and inefficiency. Using computer-assisted discourse analysis of resolutions from the UN Security Council, 1993-2019, the book offers data that describe the character and development of UN approach to the protection of civilians from violence. It then links the data to the statistics of conflict fatalities and state fragility to reveal, by means of qualitative and quantitative analysis, when, where, how and why the UN has been successful at protecting civilians. Two reasons for the UN's success are highlighted in the book as being statistically most significant. First, the organization offers local ownership to peaceful solutions by considering conflicting parties as the primary agents of protection. Second, the UN approach is much less power-oriented than unilateral approaches by the great powers: protection for the UN does not mean deterrence or destruction, but rather, support for local protectors of civilians. However, strong great power influence on such operations tends to weaken UN's ability to save lives.This book will be of much interest to students of humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping, human rights and International Relations in general.

Can international human rights law be applied and enforced in a part of a State's territory outside its effective control? This study provides a step by step analysis to show how it can. International human rights law can normalise an imperfect, defective situation through pragmatic interpretation; it imposes obligations both on the territorial State on account of its sovereign title and residual effectiveness on the one hand, and on any subject of international law exercising territorial control over the area on account of its effective control on the other. By considering effectiveness beyond formal normative sources and titles of the subjects implicated in the territorial situation, international human rights law is interpreted and applied in a manner which renders human rights practical and effective. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of State practice regarding various subjects implicated in the territorial situation, applicable legal sources and major geographic areas.

When the world turns away from the horrors of war, genocide, famine, and natural disasters, the stewards of humanity run toward the suffering. They stand as a thin line between life and death for thousands of people who will never know their stories. These stewards are neither heroes nor saints. They are ordinary people with ordinary struggles who rise to extraordinary challenges. They are beacons of light in the darkness of humanitarian crisis.With an unflinching view into some of the worst humanitarian crises of our lifetime, author Robert Macpherson, US Marine combat veteran turned aid worker, tells the stories of the men and women who have courageously confronted evil and injustice from Somalia to Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan.Throughout his narrative, Robert challenges us to consider our place in humanity and our own role as stewards.“I look for light, and on occasion, find it, but too often it is clouded by the skulls of Murambi. I am reminded by those I've met that all is not lost. Even in the fog of wicked brutality, humans emanate brilliant and cosmic bursts of decency, caring, and kindness. I know this because I continue to meet the women and men who are the keepers of this light.” From Stewards of HumanityRobert Macpherson has been a writer, aid worker, and career infantry officer in the U.S. Marines with service in Vietnam, Iraq, and Somalia. After retiring as a Colonel, he enjoyed a second career with the humanitarian organization CARE, where he directed global risk mitigation for staff and vulnerable populations and led humanitarian response missions worldwide. These efforts often required engaging with foreign governments and the United Nations, but as frequently with non-traditional actors such as the Taliban in Afghanistan, warlords in Sudan and Somalia, local militias, and kidnappers. Stewards of Humanity is his debut book. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Veronica and service dog, Blue.Those who've read Chasing Chaos by Jessica Alexander, Ghosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd Perry, and Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder will savor the rich, complex narratives in Stewards of Humanity.

The question if states should intervene in massive humanitarian emergencies without a legal right to do so, is still object of an important debate in the theory and practice of international relations. This situation has not changed with the emergence of the ‘Responsibility to Protect'norm, which stopped short of a right to intervene without a Security Council authorisation. The book assesses the impact of such unauthorised humanitarian interventions on international society and regions; it is written in the context of the English School of International Relations. Based on empirical studies the author argues that they can be progressive-constructive for international order, if conducted with explicit legitimacy, integrity, and great power participation. The argument is based on the analysis of six cases conducted between 1946 and 2005. Specific consideration is given to the cases of Liberia (1990) and Kosovo (1999). In sum, the book contributes to the solidarism-pluralism debate and the discourse on humanitarian interventions.

When can a state give political support to a military intervention in another state? The Government of the Netherlands commissioned an international Expert Group composed of eminent members from the fields of international law, international relations and diplomacy. The Expert Group's objective was to examine this complex, topical and time-sensitive question and to consider whether the government should press for international acceptance of humanitarian intervention as a new legal basis for the use of force between states in exceptional circumstances. This volume is the result of those efforts. The Expert Group was led by Professor Cyrille Fijjnaut and consisted of Mr. Kristian Fischer, Professor Terry Gill, Professor Larissa van den Herik, Professor Martti Koskenniemi, Professor Claus Kreß, Mr. Robert Serry, Ms. Monika Sie Dhian Ho, Ms. Elizabeth Wilmshurst and Professor Rob de Wijk. Their thorough analysis and recommendations offer important insights that can aid governments in formulating a position on political support for the use of force between states and humanitarian intervention. The volume also constitutes a useful tool for scholars and practitioners in considering these difficult and important issues. From the Foreword by Stef Blok, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands:'The Expert Group's thorough analysis and recommendations on this complex subject offer important insights that can aid the government in formulating its position on political support for the use of force between states and humanitarian intervention. In drawing up this advisory report the Expert Group has helped the government develop a new, contemporary vision on these issues....'

This book seeks to reimagine why and how to confront mass atrocities in world politics. Drawing on Hannah Arendt's conception of evil, it interprets and understands mass atrocities as ‘evil'in an ‘Arendtian'sense, that is, as crimes against human plurality and, thus, crimes against humanity itself. This understanding of mass atrocities paves the way for reframing responses to mass atrocities as attempts to confront evil. In doing so, the book focuses on military intervention under the banner of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and judicial intervention by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and reframes them as tools to protect human plurality from evil. Furthermore, the book looks at the place and the role of R2P and the ICC in the changing landscape of world order. It argues that the protection of humanity from evil can serve as a legitimate Grundnorm (basic norm) around which a global constitutional order in an inherently pluralistic world can be constructed.

This book investigates how humanitarians balance the laws and principles of civilian protection with the realities of contemporary warzones, where non-state armed actors assert cultural, political and religious traditions that are often at odds with official frameworks.This book argues that humanitarian protection on the ground is driven not by official frameworks in the traditional sense, but by the relationships between the complex mix of actors involved in contemporary wars. The frameworks, in turn, act as a unifying narrative that preserves these relationships. As humanitarian practitioners navigate this complex space, they act as unofficial brokers, translating the official frameworks to align with the often-divergent agendas of non-state armed actors. In doing so, they provide an unofficial humanitarian fix for the challenges inherent in applying the official frameworks in contemporary wars.Drawing on rich ethnographic observations from the author's time in northern Iraq, and complemented by interviews with a range of fieldworkers and humanitarian policy makers and lawyers, this book will be a compelling read for researchers and students within humanitarian and development studies, and to practitioners and policy makers who are grappling with the contradictions this book explores.

This book introduces key issues on the use of force while also providing a detailed analysis of technological developments and recent legal discussions in the field. The author examines areas such as support for rebel groups, the concept of humanitarian intervention, the Responsibility to Protect and recent conversations around the fight against the'Islamic State'in a clear and accessible manner, through a thorough presentation of relevant cases and materials. This book is essential reading for students studying force and its intersection with international law.

Using detailed insights from those with first-hand experience of conducting research in areas of international intervention and conflict, this handbook provides essential practical guidance for researchers and students embarking on fieldwork in violent, repressive and closed contexts. Contributors detail their own experiences from areas including the Congo, Sudan, Yemen, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Myanmar, inviting readers into their reflections on mistakes and hard-learned lessons. Divided into sections on issues of control and confusion, security and risk, distance and closeness and sex and sensitivity, they look at how to negotiate complex grey areas and raise important questions that intervention researchers need to consider before, during and after their time on the ground.

When one country or region of the world is facing political upheaval, genocide, or war, what role should the international community play? Should powerful countries such as the United States'police the world,'ensuring widespread peace by intervening in such conflicts? Should each nation be responsible for managing its own conflicts? This book delves into the history of armed intervention to explore arguments both for and against military intervention, and to assess when and where it is necessary, if it is necessary at all. Full-color photographs, a glossary, and sidebars aid readers as they explore compelling sides of this debate.

The idea of an international responsibility to protect, which implies that the international community or individual states should exercise graded responsibilities to protect basic human rights, remains disputed in contemporary international society. By analysing the debates about protection from mass atrocities and from human rights violations in a globalised world economy, this study discusses the problem of a fragmented human rights regime. Against this backdrop, it demonstrates the possibility of linking different concepts of protection in order to overcome the isolated implementation of different concepts of human rights protection. At the same time, this study introduces additional primary institutions of international society, thereby contributing to the English School of IR.Dr. rer. pol. Daniel Peters is a lecturer in Fundamental Rights and Security Studies at the Federal University of Applied Administrative Science, department of Federal Police, in Lübeck.

Saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war was the main motivation for creating the United Nations. Given the ongoing conflicts, wars and terrorist attacks today one is forced to ask: Is there Hope for International Peace and Security? Where have the safeguards gone to? Has the United Nations become powerless in the face of absence of the �safeguards�? In this book, Professor Tatah Mentan examines the transformation in UN peace and security operations, analysing its changing role and structure. Tatah Mentan argues that the enemy of peace and security in the global system is the dictatorship of predatory bailed out monopoly capitalism that tells us that building war ships is more important than building alternate energy infrastructure. The real enemies are therefore the publicly bailed-out monopolies, Big Media, Big Pharma, Big Oil, the Military Industrial Complex, etc. that deny the truth about conflicts and insecurity. As he emphasises, the enemies are those who refuse to think critically, not being intellectually curious, and accepting the supremacist, fascist, and misgovernance that is reducing the world collectively to being cogs in a diabolical machine of neoliberal global capitalism.

Die Beiträge in diesem Band bieten unterschiedliche Perspektiven auf die Internationale Schutzverantwortung. Die R2P erweist sich offensichtlich als eine robuste und dynamische Norm. Eine Norm, die sich trotz permanenter Diskussionen, Anfechtungen und Streitfragen und trotz des Missbrauchs für interessengeleitete Machtpolitik doch stetig weiterentwickelt. Und die ein Referenzpunkt für Staaten, Institutionen und nichtstaatliche Akteure bei deren Begründungen von als'humanitär'ausgewiesenen Interventionen bleibt. Es wird aber auch klar, dass diese Normunternehmer von sehr unterschiedlichen Motiven geleitet werden, sehr unterschiedliche Interessen verfolgen und die R2P auch sehr unterschiedlich interpretieren.

'Kovalik helps cut through the Orwellian lies and dissembling which make so-called'humanitarian'intervention possible.'—Oliver Stone War is the fount of all the worst human rights violations―including genocide―and not its cure. This undeniable truth, which the framers of the UN Charter understood so well, is lost in today's obsession with the oxymoron known as “humanitarian'intervention.No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using'Humanitarian'Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interests sets out to reclaim the original intent of the Charter founders to end the scourge of war on the heels of the devastation wrought by WWII. The book begins with a short history of the West's development as built upon the mass plunder of the Global South, genocide and slavery, and challenges the prevailing notion that the West is uniquely poised to enforce human rights through force. This book also goes through recent “humanitarian'interventions carried out by the Western powers against poorer nations (e.g., in the DRC, Congo, and Iraq) and shows how these have only created greater human rights problems – including genocide – than they purported to stop or prevent.No More War reminds the reader of the key lessons of Nuremberg – that war is the primary scourge of the world, the root of all the evils which international law seeks to prevent and eradicate, and which must be prevented. The reader is then taken through the UN Charter and other human rights instruments and their emphasis on the prevention of aggressive war.

The idea that we should'do something'to help those suffering in far-off places is the main impulse driving those who care about human rights. Yet from Kosovo to Iraq, military interventions have gone disastrously wrong. The Thin Blue Line describes how in the last twenty years humanitarianism has emerged as a multibillion-dollar industry that has played a leading role in defining humanitarian crises, and shaping the foreign policy of Western governments and the United Nations. Drawing on his own experience of working in over a dozen conflict and post-conflict zones, Foley shows how the growing influence of international law has been used to override the sovereignty of the poorest countries in the world.

Amplio y profundo estudio histórico, jurídico y político de la injerencia internacional, en todos sus aspectos y manifestaciones, desde la brutal intervención de las potencias imperialistas en los asuntos de países menos desarrollados —so pretexto de combatir focos bélicos y dictaduras locales—, hasta las misiones de paz en Naciones Unidas que, a pesar de tener otro objetivo, no dejan de causar a su vez un saldos de muertes y desgracias humanas. La autora brinda respuestas a las disímiles interrogantes sobre diversos aspectos y coberturas de la intervención, a saber, cuál es la diferencia entre esta y la misión, por qué en muchos casos el envío de los cascos azules de la ONU resulta más perjudicial que beneficioso y cómo, en definitiva, el superdesarrollo y la supremacía de unos estados no causa más que guerras, violencias y subdesarrollo de otros.

What can be done to warn about and organize political action to prevent genocide and mass atrocities?The international contributors to this volume are either experts or practitioners, often both, who have contributed in substantial ways to analyzing high risk situations, recommending preventive policies and actions, and in several instances helping to organize remedial actions. Whereas current literature on the prevention of genocide is theoretically well grounded, this book explores what can be done, and has been done, in real-world situations. Recommendations and actions are rooted in a generation of experience, based on solid historical, comparative, and empirical research and with a grounding in quantitative methods. This volume examines historical cases to understand the general causes and processes of mass violence and genocide, and engages with ongoing genocidal crises including Darfur and Syria, as well as other forms of related violence such as terrorism and civil conflict. It will be key reading for all students and scholars of genocide, war and conflict studies, human security and security studies in general.

In this compilation, the authors analyze the decision making processes involved in legal areas, logistical areas and administrative areas of humanitarian aid by describing real life situations in order to demonstrate dilemmas encountered on a daily basis, creating an ethical and humane framework that is efficient and beneficial to the patient. Compliance obligations are a longstanding concern of international humanitarian law. Their modalities include national legislation, relevant treaty accession and ratification, and adherence to customary international law. While the linkage connecting international humanitarian and human rights law is acknowledged, less certain is which body of law assumes primary importance under conditions of neither war nor peace. These issues are discussed, as are options for future State engagement in an institutionalising of humanitarian law compliance. The authors go on to argue that while Libya, Syria and Myanmar have presented us with some overwhelming challenges, this should not deter the international community in responding to violent crimes against humanity. Hence, it is important to review the dynamics of conflict, intervention processes, actors involved, and the international and regional organizations saddled with the duty of intervening. Based on an evaluation carried out by the authors on the quality of life of post-2010 earthquake victims in Haiti (according to the WHOQOL 100 quality-of-life assessment tool) the final article intends to discuss the evolution of the living conditions of the Haitian population eight years after the earthquake, based on the same criteria. To organize the data collected before and after the disaster, the authors focus on health and medical care; education and access to information; income and occupation; safety; environment; physical space and housing; leisure and free time; family and social network; satisfaction with one's life and perspective of life; spirituality and personal beliefs.

Constituidas las Fuerzas Armadas permanentes de los Estados modernos como instrumentos al servicio de la defensa de la soberanía y la integridad territorial, a lo largo de su historia han participado asimismo en operaciones humanitarias como respuesta a los principios de huma­nidad, imparcialidad y neutralidad, liderando dicha acción humanitaria reconocida jurídica e institucionalmente.En la presente obra se contempla el desarrollo histórico y jurídico de misiones, acciones y ayudas humanitarias, fundamentalmente en la época contemporánea, centrándose en la Acción Exterior del Estado, su relación con la defensa nacional y las misiones de estabilización de las Naciones Unidas y otras organizaciones internacionales. Sin olvidar otros aspectos como los orígenes del Derecho Internacional Humani­tario y su coincidencia con la fundación de la Cruz Roja y la colabora­ción de las Fuerzas Armadas con otras instituciones y concretamente con la Universidad

The Promise and Perils of'Silence'or'Temoignage'During Humanitarian Crises provides readers with a nuanced study of what happens when historical and 21st century medical humanitarian communities, armed with their idealistic rhetorics, choose whether to speak out or remain silent during various military or medical crises. The author uses a series of case studies from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century to illustrate the politicized nature of these decisions. Unlike some that focus on the prescriptive need to follow certain universal medical humanitarian principles during crises, this book highlights the precarious nature of what some scholars call “medical advocacy/witnessing” or what the French call “témoignage.” The author argues that regardless of whether we are talking about lack of action during colonial crises or the Holocaust, it is oftentimes the lack of political will that determines how like “neutrality” or “impartiality” are interpreted. The book also acquaints readers with some of the challenges that have been recently posed to the “new” humanitarian Doctors Without Borders personnel, who have witnessed the targeting of medical hospitals and clinics. What researchers call the weaponization of medical care affects many in need living in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, or Syria. The author concludes the book by underscoring the point that it is the presence or absence of political will, and not the inherent epistemic value of medical humanitarian principles, that dictates when this advocacy succeeds or fails.

Das humanitäre, menschenrechtsbezogene Völkerrecht der Moderne ist als Antwort auf Erfahrungen von Krieg und entgrenzte Gewalt entstanden. Die Beiträge rekonstruieren und beziehen die Menschenrechtsentwicklung auf aktuelle Fragestellungen des Umgangs mit bewaffneten Auseinandersetzungen, etwa die „Responsibility to protect“. Ebenso bestimmt der Band Herausforderungen der Erinnerungskultur und skizziert eine menschenrechtssensible Bildung zu Geschichte und Gegenwart.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This study explores the normative dimension of the evolving role of the United Nations in peace and security and, ultimately, in governance. What is dealt with here is both the UN's changing raison d'être and the wider normative context within which the organisation is located. The study looks at the UN through the window of one of its most contentious, yet least understood, practices: active involvement in intra-state conflicts as epitomised by UN peacekeeping. Drawing on the conceptual tools provided by the'historical structural'approach, this study seeks to understand how and why the international community continuously reinterprets or redefines the UN's role with regard to intra-state conflicts. The study concentrates on intra-states'peacekeeping environments', and examines what changes, if any, have occurred to the normative basis of UN peacekeeping in intra-state conflicts from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. One of the original aspects of the study is its analytical framework, where the conceptualisation of'normative basis'revolves around objectives, functions and authority, and is closely connected with the institutionalised values in the UN Charter such as state sovereignty, human rights and socio-economic development. This book is essential reading for postgraduate students of IR and international peacekeeping organisations.

Ten new essays critique the practice armed humanitarian intervention, and the'Responsibility to Protect'doctrine that advocates its use under certain circumstances. The contributors investigate the causes and consequences, as well as the uses and abuses, of armed humanitarian intervention. One enduring concern is that such interventions are liable to be employed as a foreign policy instrument by powerful states pursuing geo-political interests. Some of the chapters interrogate how the presence of ulterior motives impact on the moral credentials of armed humanitarian intervention. Others shine a light on the potential adverse effects of such interventions, even where they are motivated primarily by humanitarian concern. The volume also tracks the evolution of the R2P norm, and draws attention to how it has evolved, for better or for worse, since UN member states unanimously accepted it over a decade ago. In some respects the norm has been distorted to yield prescriptions, and to impose constraints, fundamentally at odds with the spirit of the R2P idea. This gives us all the more reason to be cautious of unwarranted optimism about humanitarian intervention and the Responsibility to Protect.

In this moment of unprecedented humanitarian crises, the representations of global disasters are increasingly common media themes around the world. The Routledge Companion to Media and Humanitarian Action explores the interconnections between media, old and new, and the humanitarian challenges that have come to define the twenty-first century. Contributors, including media professionals and experts in humanitarian affairs, grapple with what kinds of media language, discourse, terms, and campaigns can offer enough context and background knowledge to nurture informed global citizens. Case studies of media practices, content analysis and evaluation of media coverage, and representations of humanitarian emergencies and affairs offer further insight into the ways in which strategic communications are designed and implemented in field of humanitarian action.

The United States must be prepared to operate in a range of complex environments to meet a range of security challenges and threats, such as humanitarian emergencies, terrorism and violent extremism, great power aggression, health security crises, and international criminal violence. This study focuses on these five functional security imperatives and illustrates each imperative through regionally or subnationally defined operating environments. In each case, the selected security imperative must be addressed in the near term to help meet other U.S. objectives. The goal of the case studies is to characterize the operating environment, identify key tasks and responsibilities to address the security imperative, and develop a set of tools and policy recommendations for operating in those specific environments.

This book discusses the practice of no-fly zones in international affairs.The first no-fly zone was imposed over northern Iraq immediately after the first Gulf War, and since then they have become a regular recourse for policymakers confronted with humanitarian crises. They have come to be viewed as a feasible, essentially non-violent form of intervention that can be performed entirely from the air in a situation where some form of action is widely thought to be necessary but the political will for a ground operation is insufficient. Nonetheless, even among policy makers there is limited understanding of the requirements, the shortcomings and the potentialities of no-fly zones. This is the first comprehensive work on this topic, and examines the assumptions surrounding no-fly zones by focusing on issues such as authority, cost, possibility of escalation and effectiveness. Looking back at 25 years of experience with no-fly zones, the book's goal is to look at what historical lessons may be drawn and to make some predictions with regard to the politics and strategy of no-fly zones in the future. This book will be of much interest to students of air power, security studies, Middle Eastern Studies and IR in general

Wie Menschenrechte zu einer Legitimationsgrundlage für militärische Interventionen wurden. Die Balkankriege der neunziger Jahre, der Völkermord in Ruanda und die Darfur-Krise dienten als Katalysatoren einer Debatte, die die Koordinaten internationaler Politik und des Völkerrechts nachhaltig verändert hat: Der Verweis auf humanitäre Notlagen und Menschenrechtsverletzungen wurde zu einem der zugkräftigsten Argumente, um Eingriffe einzelner Staaten oder Staatenbündnisse auf fremdem Territorium zu legitimieren. Die dadurch angestoßene Neuverhandlung internationaler Normen ging einher mit einer Relativierung des Souveränitätsprinzips und des Gewaltverbots. Der Aufstieg des sogenannten »New Humanitarianism'während der neunziger Jahre war nicht zuletzt das Resultat politischer und kultureller Wandlungsprozesse, deren Wurzeln in der Zeit vor dem Ende der bipolaren Weltordnung lagen. Die Aushöhlung des Unparteilichkeitsgebots humanitärer Akteure, der Aktivismus einer Neuen Linken und die Entstehung einer neuen Ethik der Dringlichkeit haben die Formen und Ziele des Humanitarismus grundlegend verändert. Der Band nimmt gleichermaßen die Rolle von Regierungen, suprastaatliche und nichtstaatliche Akteure wie NGOs, Medien und Sozialwissenschaften in den Blick.

Since the end of the Cold War, humanitarian interventions have continued to evolve and respond to a wide range of political crises. These insightful essays focus on the challenges associated with interventions when facing conflict and human rights violations, unmitigated systematic violence, state re-building, human mobility and dislocation. Each chapter is linked to the rest through three defining themes that permeate the book: the evolution of humanitarian interventions in a global era; the limits of sovereignty and the ethics of interventions; and the politics of post-intervention: (re)-building and humanitarian engagement. The authors incorporate a variety of case studies including Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Syria, Libya and Iraq, and examine the complexity of interventions across their different dimensions, including relevant doctrines such as R2P, ‘Use of Force'and Human Security.

This book analyses efforts to advance the rights of Indigenous People within peace-building frameworks: Section I critically explores key issues concerning Indigenous Peoples'Rights (struggles for land, human, cultural, civil, legal and constitutional rights) in connection with key approaches in peace-building (such as nonviolence, non-violent strategic action, peace education, sustainability, gender equality, cultures of peace, and environmental protection). Section II examines indigenous leaders and movements using peace and non-violent strategies, while Section III presents case studies on the successes and failures of peace perspectives regarding contributions to/ developments in/ advancement of/ barriers to the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Lastly, Section IV investigates what advances have been achieved in Universal Indigenous Peoples'Rights in the 21st century within the context of sustainable peace.

Canada is actively involved through various agencies in the domestic affairs of countries in the Global South. Over time, these practices – rationalized as a form of humanitarian assistance − have become increasingly focused on enhancing regimes of surveillance, policing, prisons, border control, and security governance. Drawing on an array of previously classified materials and interviews with security experts, Security Aid presents a critical analysis of the securitization of humanitarian aid. Jeffrey Monaghan demonstrates that, while Canadian humanitarian assistance may be framed around altruistic ideals, these ideals are subordinate to two overlapping objectives: the advancement of Canada's strategic interests and the development of security states in the “underdeveloped” world. Through case studies of the major aid programs in Haiti, Libya, and Southeast Asia, Security Aid provides a comprehensive analysis and reinterpretation of Canada's foreign policy agenda and its role in global affairs.

This title was first published in 2001. This work examines four post-Cold War interventions launched on behalf of people on the move: international action in Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda. Because these crises accompanied the emergence of the concept of Internationally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in international relations, they have shaped the understandings of forced displacement issues, such as ethnic cleansing, need and humanitarian action. The author looks at attitudes towards IDPs, concluding that UN-backed interventions regarding displaced civilians were primarily about deterring, sometimes preventing, them from escaping places of conflict. Protection in this context became a device by which international protagonists sought to contain people on the move within the confines of their collapsed states. As a result, levels of safety effectively granted by the international community depended less on the vulnerability of populations than on Western fears of mass border crossings.

The instinctual desire to support those in need, irrespective of geographic, cultural or religious links, is both facilitated and overwhelmed by the extent of information now available about the multiple humanitarian crises which occur on a daily basis around the world. Behind the images of devastating floods and earthquakes, or massive forced displacements resulting from armed conflicts, is the all too real suffering faced by individuals and families. From the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to the on-going conflict in Syria, recent years have seen an increasing debate regarding the international legal mechanisms to protect persons in such humanitarian crises.The International Legal Protection of Persons in Humanitarian Crises argues that an acquis humanitaire is identifiable through the interconnected web of existing and emerging international, regional and national laws, policies and practices for the protection of persons caught up in humanitarian crises. Indeed, the humanitarian imperative to alleviate suffering wherever it may be found permeates various branches of international law, and is reflected in the extensive humanitarian activities undertaken by States and other actors in times of armed conflict, population displacement and disaster. Dug Cubie argues that by clarifying the conceptual framework and normative content of the acquis humanitaire, gaps and lacunae can be identified and the overall protection of persons strengthened.

The creation of safe areas poses a number of difficult challenges to the spatial and normative organization of contemporary international politics. As a result, academics, practitioners and NGOs alike will find the case studies in this informative book essential reading. Hikaru Yamashita firstly looks at the case of northern Iraq after the first Iraqi war, where safe areas represented a major departure from the conventional notion. The different understandings of the Srebrenica safe areas, especially with regard to the role of security, are also assessed to ascertain how they eventually destroyed this humanitarian space. A much-needed account of the extent to which humanitarian space, intended as shelter in response to Rwandan genocide, consequently destabilized the area and provided cover for the genocideurs is additionally provided. This well-researched book, through the prism of safe areas, allows a measured assessment to be made of the place of human rights and humanitarianism in the contemporary world.

This book contributes to current debates on the protection of human rights in the 21st century.With the global economic collapse, the rise of the BRICS, the post-intervention chaos in Libya, the migration crisis in Europe, and the regional conflagration sparked by the conflict in Syria, the need to protect human rights has arguably never been greater. In light of the precipitous decline in global respect for human rights and the eruption or escalation of intra-state crises across the world, this book asks'what is the future of human rights protection?'. Seeking to avoid both denial and fatalism, this book thus aims to: examine the principles at the very foundation of the debate on human rights; diagnose the causes of the decline of liberal internationalism so as to offer guiding lessons for future initiatives; identify those practices and developments that can, and should, be preserved in the new era; question the parameters of the contemporary debate and advance perspectives that aim to identify the contours of future ideas and practices that may offer a way forward. This book will be of much interest to students of humanitarian intervention, R2P, international organisations, human rights and security studies.

With the end of the Cold War has come an upsurge in humanitarian interventions-military campaigns aimed at ending mass atrocities. These wars of rescue, waged in the name of ostensibly universal norms of human rights and legal principles, rest on the premise that a genuine'international community'has begun to emerge and has reached consensus on a procedure for eradicating mass killings. Rajan Menon argues that, in fact, humanitarian intervention remains deeply divisive as a concept and as a policy, and is flawed besides. The advocates of humanitarian intervention have produced a mountain of writings to support their claim that human rights precepts now exert an unprecedented influence on states'foreign policies and that we can therefore anticipate a comprehensive solution to mass atrocities. In The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention, Menon shows that this belief, while noble, is naïve. States continue to act principally based on what they regard at any given time as their national interests. Delivering strangers from oppression ranks low on their list of priorities. Indeed, even democratic states routinely embrace governments that trample the human rights values on which the humanitarian intervention enterprise rests. States'ethical commitment to waging war to end atrocities remains episodic and erratic-more rhetorical than real. And when these missions are undertaken, the strategies and means used invariably produce perverse, even dangerous results. This, in no small measure, stems from the hubris of leaders-and the acolytes of humanitarian intervention-who have come to believe that they possesses the wisdom and wherewithal to bestow freedom and stability upon societies about which they know little.

Human rights, peacekeeping, and humanitarian intervention have emerged in the past decades as important components of international law and practice. Adopting a methodology of Institutional Ethnography informed by Actor-Network Theory, this book traces the practices of law and expertise from global IGO headquarters to the ‘field'and back again, and through various contemporary field missions from Bosnia to Afghanistan and East Timor to Sierra Leone.It answers several fundamental questions: How is human rights law engaged in ‘establishing the peace,'‘rebuilding the nation,'and ‘restoring the rule of law'in post-conflict situations? How do human rights experts use law in their everyday work in the context of humanitarian intervention? How are law and expertise established, sustained and transformed in the field? Offering a complex and nuanced explanation of humanitarian intervention based upon a multi-dimensional understanding of law and power, this book will be of interest and use to scholars, students and practitioners in international law and policy, human rights, and humanitarian intervention. Its cross-disciplinary approach should also appeal to the professional communities engaged directly and indirectly with projects of humanitarian intervention – including staff at inter-governmental organizations, international lawyers and practitioners, and activists.

This book covers the design, evaluation, and learning for international interventions aiming to promote peace. More specifically, it reconceptualises this space by critically analysing mainstream approaches – presenting both conceptual and empirical content. This volume offers a variety of original and insightful contributions to the debates grappling with the adoption of complexity thinking.Insights from Complexity Thinking for Peacebuilding Practice and Evaluation addresses the core dilemma that practitioners have to confront: how to function in situations that are fast changing and complex, when equipped with tools designed for neither? How do we reconcile the tension between the use of linear causal logic and the dynamic political transitions that interventions are meant to assist? Readers will be given a rare opportunity to superimpose the latest conceptual innovations with the latest case study applications and from a diverse spectrum of organisational vantage points. This provides the myriad practitioners and consultants in this space with invaluable insights as to how to improve their trade craft, while ensuring policy makers and the accompanying research/academic industry have clearer guidance and innovative thinking. This edited volume provides critically innovative offerings for the audiences that make up this broad area's practitioners, researchers/academics/educators, and consultants, as well as policy makers.

The book reconciles the conflicts and legal ambiguities between African Union and ECOWAS law on the use of force on the one hand, and the UN Charter and international law on the other hand. In view of questions relating to African Union and UN relationship in the maintenance of international peace and security in Africa in recent years, the book examines the legal issues involved and how they can be resolved. By explaining the legal theory underpinning the validity of the AU-ECOWAS laws, the work provides a legal basis for the adoption of the AU-ECOWAS laws as the frameworks for the implementation of the R2P in Africa.

Few questions of global politics are more pressing than how to respond to widespread violence against civilians. Despite the efforts of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) proponents to draw attention away from exclusively military responses, debates on humanitarian intervention and R2P's “Third Pillar” still tend to boil down to two unsatisfying options: stand by and “do nothing” or take military action to protect civilians – essentially using violence to stop violence. Accordingly – and given disagreement and uncertainty regarding moral claims, as well as the unpredictability of military effectiveness – this book asks: how can we counter violence ethically and effectively, taking action consistent with our particular moral commitments while also nurturing difference and enacting responsibility towards multiple others?After evaluating the pragmatic and ethical failings of military action, the book proposes nonviolent intervention as a third – unarmed, on-the-ground – option for protecting civilians during humanitarian crises. In the empirical section of the book, focusing on the discursive and psychological conditions enabling violence, Wallace analyses the mechanisms by which Nonviolent Peaceforce – an international NGO engaged in nonviolent intervention/ unarmed civilian peacekeeping (UCP) – was able to protect civilians and prevent violence, even if on a limited scale, in the broader context of Sri Lanka's war/counterinsurgency in 2008.Both philosophically innovative and practically useful to those working in the field, the book contributes to a range of literatures and debates: from just war theory and poststructuralist ethics to nonviolent action and conflict transformation, and from humanitarian intervention, R2P, and civilian protection to strategic theory and discursive and psychological theories of violence.

We are understandably reluctant to'rank'moral atrocities. What is worse, genocide or terrorism? In this book, Thomas W. Simon argues that politicians use this to manipulate our sense of injustice by exaggerating terrorism and minimizing torture. He advocates for an international criminal code that encourages humanitarian intervention.

There is a clear development towards the acknowledgement of democracy as a universal concern. States and international organisations openly support democracy and condemn setbacks in democratisation and consolidation of democracy. But how far does this development go? The author sheds light on the question of an international obligation of states to promote and protect democratic structures as well as a corresponding right of the people. Coming to the conclusion that such norms exist in certain regions and are emerging universally, the author further analyses whether this challenges existing rules of international law, namely the prohibition of the use of force and intervention. Lastly, it is dealt with the question of whether and how such a norm could be enforced under existing mechanisms.

How should the international community react when a government transgresses humanitarian norms and violates the human rights of its own nationals? And where does the responsibility lie to protect people from such acts of violation? In this profound study, Fabian Klose unites a team of leading scholars to investigate some of the most complex and controversial debates regarding the legitimacy of protecting humanitarian norms and universal human rights by non-violent and violent means. Charting the development of humanitarian intervention from its origins in the nineteenth century through to the present day, the book surveys the philosophical and legal rationales of enforcing humanitarian norms by military means, and how attitudes to military intervention on humanitarian grounds have changed over the course of three centuries. Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, the authors lend a fresh perspective to contemporary dilemmas using case studies from Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia.