Post by Origanalist on Apr 13, 2016 6:30:19 GMT -8
by Paul R. Pillar
Humanitarianism is the nicer of the main strains of thinking underlying military intervention inside other states, or the advocacy of such intervention. It offers a rationale that seems quite different from, say, American neoconservatism, in which intervention is seen as a means to export American values or to throw U.S. weight around. Humanitarian intervention is ostensibly altruistic, the declared objective being to save lives. And the champions of humanitarian intervention say that, far from being an American thing or the preserve of any one state, what they are championing is the expression of an international consensus. The doctrine involved is usually called the Responsibility to Protect, or R2P.
R2P is a major departure from the concept of inviolate sovereignty of states that dates back to the Peace of Westphalia in the 17th century. The assumption of a broad international consensus behind R2P underpins the idea that at times there is not only a right but also a responsibility to intervene in other countries to save lives. Nothing but a broad consensus would justify such a major departure from a centuries-old concept of sovereignty that itself underpins today’s international order. Acting on behalf of an international consensus also is a needed check on intervention that might claim to be associated with humane motives but instead has other, more parochial objectives.
Rajan Menon’s book, The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention, presents a richly documented and persuasive case that there really is no such consensus, despite claims to the contrary. Menon shows that there has been at least as much hypocrisy as altruism regarding the motives of governments that have participated in armed interventions in the name of humanitarianism. The objectives are often just as parochial as with interventions undertaken under some other banner. He also demonstrates how inconsistent the record of intervention has been in terms of where armed force has and has not been applied.
The term “conceit” in the title suggests that Menon’s case is fundamentally anti-interventionist, but his argument is more complex and thorough than that. The book does address well the ways in which humanitarian intervention can go wrong or give rise to unintended and untoward consequences. But the picture of inconsistency that Menon paints includes instances in which timely intervention could have saved lives but was never undertaken. His primary target is less the act of intervention itself than those who have promoted humanitarian intervention and claimed broader support for it in the international community than actually exists. Humanitarian interventionists, says Menon, “are intoxicated by the grandeur and moralism of their transformative program” and display “certitude, even hubris” that makes them unmindful both of the spottiness of their support and the repercussions of what they are promoting.
full review here... lobelog.com/review-the-conceit-of-humanitarian-intervention/
Humanitarianism is the nicer of the main strains of thinking underlying military intervention inside other states, or the advocacy of such intervention. It offers a rationale that seems quite different from, say, American neoconservatism, in which intervention is seen as a means to export American values or to throw U.S. weight around. Humanitarian intervention is ostensibly altruistic, the declared objective being to save lives. And the champions of humanitarian intervention say that, far from being an American thing or the preserve of any one state, what they are championing is the expression of an international consensus. The doctrine involved is usually called the Responsibility to Protect, or R2P.
R2P is a major departure from the concept of inviolate sovereignty of states that dates back to the Peace of Westphalia in the 17th century. The assumption of a broad international consensus behind R2P underpins the idea that at times there is not only a right but also a responsibility to intervene in other countries to save lives. Nothing but a broad consensus would justify such a major departure from a centuries-old concept of sovereignty that itself underpins today’s international order. Acting on behalf of an international consensus also is a needed check on intervention that might claim to be associated with humane motives but instead has other, more parochial objectives.
Rajan Menon’s book, The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention, presents a richly documented and persuasive case that there really is no such consensus, despite claims to the contrary. Menon shows that there has been at least as much hypocrisy as altruism regarding the motives of governments that have participated in armed interventions in the name of humanitarianism. The objectives are often just as parochial as with interventions undertaken under some other banner. He also demonstrates how inconsistent the record of intervention has been in terms of where armed force has and has not been applied.
The term “conceit” in the title suggests that Menon’s case is fundamentally anti-interventionist, but his argument is more complex and thorough than that. The book does address well the ways in which humanitarian intervention can go wrong or give rise to unintended and untoward consequences. But the picture of inconsistency that Menon paints includes instances in which timely intervention could have saved lives but was never undertaken. His primary target is less the act of intervention itself than those who have promoted humanitarian intervention and claimed broader support for it in the international community than actually exists. Humanitarian interventionists, says Menon, “are intoxicated by the grandeur and moralism of their transformative program” and display “certitude, even hubris” that makes them unmindful both of the spottiness of their support and the repercussions of what they are promoting.
full review here... lobelog.com/review-the-conceit-of-humanitarian-intervention/