Unauthorised Humanitarian Interventions in World Politics

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The question if sovereigns should engage in situations where rights, freedom and lives of strangers are at risk has been a long-lasting issue within the field of International Relations and is perhaps the most crucial one in just war theory. For sovereigns today it is still as important as it was in Seneca’s time. Yet, its meaning shifted over time.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 2. English School as Theoretical Paradigm for the Analysis of Humanitarian Interventions

Abstract

The humanitarian intervention debate is mainly taking place within the solidarists-pluralist-debate. The debate between solidarists and pluralists itself belongs to the normative part of the English School of International Relations. To understand the background of the different positions within the HI debate, it is, therefore, advisable to lay out the arguments of solidarists and pluralists as well as the core of their debate and its basic assumptions, which is done best by outlining the theoretical background of the ES itself.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 3. The Humanitarian Intervention Debate (State of the Art)

Abstract

The debate about humanitarian intervention is a living fossil in the discipline of international relations theory debate. Yet, it is a quite vivid one. Political philosophers have dealt with the question if there is a right that has to be enforced throughout mankind at whole and not only within a state, empire, kingdom and so on for millennia. What today is humanitarian intervention was religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries and the conquest of empires in the 19th century.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 4. Humanitarian Intervention: A Non-Normative and Analytical Definition

Abstract

The HI debate is not facing the same problem terrorism research is. There, a wide range of definitions exists; here, the definitions are quite similar to each other. I concur with Hehir, who examines in an overview on definitions used within the debate that all of them include the elements a) use of force, b) the involvement of states on both sides and c) an event aimed at preventing or ending massive human rights violations. Additionally, it is most common to include threat of force as alternative to its use as well.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 5. Impact Theorems: Concretising the Solidarism-Pluralism Debate on HI

Abstract

In my conclusion on the HI debate, I stated that the early HI debate was more holistic and not as narrow as it has become after ICISS’ report and its turn into the R2P debate. At the beginning of the discourse on humanitarian intervention the focus was not as much on ethics, law or practice alone, but on its interaction with international order and consideration under diverging IR theories. After 2001, contributions in such a spirit have been somewhat marginalised.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 6. A Systematic Case Pre-Selection

Abstract

In this chapter I will come to the pre-selection of cases, which shall be outlined in the following chapter. What is meant by case pre-selection and what is the for conducting such a process?

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 7. Humanitarian Interventions in Contemporary History (1946–2005)

Abstract

In the previous chapter, 22 conflicts or individual military operations with possible humanitarian interventions with 50 individual cases have been identified by the combined military intervention after major episodes of political violence data set. Those 22 episodes contain all cases in which it is possible that a humanitarian intervention was conducted. Based on this data set, those cases which constitute unauthorised humanitarian interventions between 1946 and 2005, are going to be selected in this chapter.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 8. Operationalisation and Research Design

Abstract

Before coming to the main part of this thesis, I will state the research design as well as lay out the operationalisation for this study. I will do so in six steps. Firstly, I summarise the previous research process and emphasise its importance for this chapter.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 9. Short of Great Power Politics, Short of Impact: The UHIs in the Cold War

Abstract

The first four unauthorised humanitarian interventions each appeared within a time interval of almost seven years in the 1970s: India’s intervention in East Pakistan at the end of 1971, Arab League’s intervention in Lebanon in summer 1976, Vietnam’s intervention in the last days of 1978 in Cambodia and Tanzania’s intervention in early 1979 in Uganda. All, except of the UHI in Lebanon, were justified by the interveners as actions of self-defence. Yet, those three were discussed in the academic debate as humanitarian interventions.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 10. The Benefit of Being on One’s Own: The Impact of ECOWAS’ UHI in Liberia

Abstract

At the same time the Cold War ended, the fifth unauthorised humanitarian intervention began in Liberia. This chapter will open with a short review of the intervention itself and the events surrounding it. I will then present the statistical findings concerning the questions posed for the impact on international order and continue with the discussion of the assessment in literature of the same matter.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 11. The Coerced Great Power Concert: The Impact of NATO’s UHI in Kosovo

Abstract

The one UHI that is widely known outside the academic debate is the intervention of NATO in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999. After a short review of the intervention itself and its political as well as humanitarian environment, I will present the statistical findings for the impact on international order. The discussion by its assessment in literature will follow thereafter, which is quantitatively and qualitatively more enriched than the one for ECOWAS’ intervention.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 12. The Tale of Opened Floodgates: Comparing and Explaining the Impact of UHIs on International and Regional Order

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to compare the assessments made in the previous case studies for the impact of UHIs on international order, identify common patterns and explain these. I will start with the comparison. The following explanatory part is divided in four sections.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 13. Human Rights are an Inelastic Regime: Comparing and Explaining the Impact of UHIs on Human Rights

Abstract

As pluralists and solidarists are focussing on two different perspectives on international society (order & justice), this thesis is likewise scrutinising the impact of UHIs in two different aspects. The former—as has been discussed in the last chapter—being the pluralist perspective on international order, the latter, which is going to be discussed in this chapter, being the solidarist perspective on human rights.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 14. UHI-Impact Theory and Implications for the Understanding of International Society

Abstract

In the final chapter of this thesis, prior to the conclusion, I will transfer the results of the empirical-analytical assessments to UHI-impact theory and discuss the deduced implications for international society theory and norm research.

The original main contribution of this thesis has been the assessment made for the solidarist and pluralist assumptions on the impact of humanitarian interventions that were conducted illegally. In the first subchapter I will now develop a theory on UHIs’ impact on international order and human rights based on the study just conducted.

Christian Pohlmann

Chapter 15. Conclusion

Abstract

The present thesis scrutinised which impact unauthorised humanitarian interventions have on international order and human rights in six individual cases that have been empirically-analytically assessed and compared for their findings, while transferring the results to a theory of unauthorised humanitarian interventions impact on international order. For this research purpose the HI and R2P debates have been reviewed, a definition of UHIs with general HI criteria established, and based on a combined data set all UHIs from 1946 to 2005 identified.

Christian Pohlmann

Backmatter