Humanitarian Intervention

Definition

Humanitarian intervention refers to military action within the territory of a sovereign state by legitimized outside actors often without the consent of the target state. According to James Pattison, humanitarian interventions are characterized by four defining conditions. First, the use of force carried out by regular military units distinguishes it from economic or diplomatic interventions. Second, it reacts to gross human rights violations or prolonged suffering on a large-scale basis, such as genocide, mass-killing, ethnic cleansing, or large-scale human rights violations. Third, humanitarian intervention is carried out by an external actor, not through a state resolving its own crisis or a subgroup within this state. Fourth, its sole purpose lies in the remedy or prevention of (further) loss of life or human suffering.

Brief History

Humanitarian intervention dates back at least to the 19th century when states used military force to protect the lives and welfare of non-nationals. However, such interventions as the Russian, United Kingdom, and French interference in the Greek War for Independence (1821–1827) always involved the protection of Christians within the Ottoman Empire. The end of the Cold War saw a shift in the notion of sovereignty (see the subsequent discussion) and the “rise” of humanitarian interventions on all continents on behalf of predominantly non-Christians or non-Europeans. These include interventions carried out by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia in 1991 and 2003 as well as in Sierra Leone in 1997; U.S.-led interventions in northern Iraq (1991), Somalia (1992), and Haiti (1994); NATO interventions in Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999); an Australia-led intervention in East Timor (1999); action by the United Kingdom in Sierra Leone (2000); as well as combined UN interventions in the eastern Congo since 1999 (in cooperation with the European Union) and in Côte d'Ivoire in 2003 (with France).

Humanitarian Intervention: Evolution as a Doctrine

During the last quarter of the 20th century, the growing sense of the international community emerged that in certain instances, humanitarian intervention could be morally permissible and politically necessary. According to Mary Kaldor, the evolution of the doctrine of humanitarian interventions is testimony to an emerging global civil society based on the consensus about the equality of human beings (not merely of national citizens) and the responsibility to prevent their suffering. Furthermore, it reflects the influence of three groups of social actors that largely influenced and/or pressured governments to incorporate humanitarian intervention into their foreign policy repertoires. First, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) or Human Rights Watch as well as social movements of (potential) victims or local groups, which provide humanitarian assistance, have frequently linked up and built networks to mobilize public support or pressure governments into action. Second, think tanks, for example, the International Crisis Group or the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and independent international commissions like the Brandt, Palme, or Brundtland commissions under the auspices of the United Nations have intensified the political debate and have provided specific policy recommendations. Third, the media and the ever-growing reservoir of websites have greatly disseminated information on gross human rights violations and have thus not only drawn public attention to the issue, but also indirectly they have forced governments to act. In 1988 the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 43/131, which despite affirming the sovereignty of states, awarded the international community an important avenue for the protection of victims in calamities. Three years later, the Security Council created safe havens for Kurds in northern Iraq in Resolution 688, setting an important precedent, while Council Resolution 794 in 1992 for the first time authorized the use of force to alleviate human suffering (in the case of Somalia).

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