Niall Ferguson declared, “It's all very well for us to sit here in the west with our high incomes and cushy lives, and say it's immoral to violate the sovereignty of another state. But if the effect of that is to bring people in that country economic and political freedom, to raise their standard of living, to increase their life expectancy, then don't rule it out.” (The observer 2011) What Niall Ferguson defined was an aspect of Intervention. Intervention, according to Andrew Heywood is the “forcible action taken by one state against another state, without the latter´s consent.” (Heywood 318) Therefore, Ferguson´s argument with Heywood perspective affirms that the main goal of intervention can only be reached when the people concerned seem
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Francisco de Vitoria (1492-1546) acknowledged the right of interventions to prevent the maltreatment by the state of its own subjects, making him an early theorist of humanitarian intervention. (Heywood 318) Possibly the first historical example of a state intervening in the internal affairs of another on the grounds of humanitarian concern was during the Greek War of Independence in the early 19th century, when Britain, France and Russia intervened in an engagement at Navarino, by destroying Turkish and Egyptians fleets, in 1827 to secure for the Greeks independence. (Woodhouse 1965) Ever since that event in history, Humanitarian Intervention has been constantly changing and appearing in different events. Nowadays, we can say that the modern idea of humanitarian intervention, unlike the older interpretation, was a creation of the Post-Cold War period, and it was associated to the establishment of the ‘New World Order’ in 1990´s. Therefore, the 1990’s are sometimes seen as the shining era for humanitarian intervention. As Heywood declared “The end of the Cold War appeared to have ‘liberal peace’, which was founded on a common recognition of international norms and standards of morality.” (Heywood 317)
In order to fully grasp the impact of Humanitarian Intervention in a postmodern international stage, questions will be addressed in this essay; can intervention ever be genuinely and purely ‘humanitarian’? Can humanitarian intervention ever be reconciled with the norm of state sovereignty? To solve of these questions, research from experts, such as Andrew Heywood and Noam Chomsky, will be interpret and study. For the purpose of this work I intend to use this term with the following limitations, to analyze the political, ethical and legal condition of humanitarian
Francisco de Vitoria (1492-1546) acknowledged the right of interventions to prevent the maltreatment by the state of its own subjects, making him an early theorist of humanitarian intervention. (Heywood 318) Possibly the first historical example of a state intervening in the internal affairs of another on the grounds of humanitarian concern was during the Greek War of Independence in the early 19th century, when Britain, France and Russia intervened in an engagement at Navarino, by destroying Turkish and Egyptians fleets, in 1827 to secure for the Greeks independence. (Woodhouse 1965) Ever since that event in history, Humanitarian Intervention has been constantly changing and appearing in different events. Nowadays, we can say that the modern idea of humanitarian intervention, unlike the older interpretation, was a creation of the Post-Cold War period, and it was associated to the establishment of the ‘New World Order’ in 1990´s. Therefore, the 1990’s are sometimes seen as the shining era for humanitarian intervention. As Heywood declared “The end of the Cold War appeared to have ‘liberal peace’, which was founded on a common recognition of international norms and standards of morality.” (Heywood 317)
In order to fully grasp the impact of Humanitarian Intervention in a postmodern international stage, questions will be addressed in this essay; can intervention ever be genuinely and purely ‘humanitarian’? Can humanitarian intervention ever be reconciled with the norm of state sovereignty? To solve of these questions, research from experts, such as Andrew Heywood and Noam Chomsky, will be interpret and study. For the purpose of this work I intend to use this term with the following limitations, to analyze the political, ethical and legal condition of humanitarian