Humanitarian Interventions: a Critical Approach

Abstract

This paper aims to confront the manifold aspects of “humanitarian” intervention along with the conceptualization of national sovereignty. It is argued that, among the many forms of humanitarian interventions (such as sanctions, material assistance, aid, etc.), military intervention should always be the last resort when it comes to guaranteeing both the protection of human rights and regional stability. The discussion about intervention in a sovereign state has long been an inherently part of international studies. On one hand we have the Westphalian concept of sovereignty (therefore, the state-centrism perspective and the absolute rejection of external intervention without consent), and on the other hand, the consolidation of the concept of human rights, advocating that interventions are necessary where human abuses are practised. Merging them in order to verify the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention in a contemporary world has been the real challenge to many scholars in the field. It is argued that humanitarian intervention has very often been used as a fundamental key to serve transnational elites (within developed countries) to impose their universal values. In spite of this, it is imperative to bear in mind the multifarious aspects of conflictuality and humanitarian interventions in the light of the past experiences and future challenges.