Humanitarian Intervention

Term Paper # 101171

International Relations
Political Science

An analysis of the political, economic, social and religious factors that impact the decision of whether to provide humanitarian intervention.

2,620 words () | 10 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses humanitarian intervention and whether it is always justified. It then presents and discusses the complex political, economic, social and religious factors that often combine in the real world to present difficult decisions for national and international authorities when debating whether international humanitarian intervention is necessary or justified. The paper provides examples of past major humanitarian disasters and discusses the outcomes of humanitarian intervention.

From the Paper:

"Ultimately, the complexities of international politics and the constant shifting of immediate national interests preclude the wide application of universal rules for determining whether humanitarian intervention is necessary or justified, for there are so many political, economic, social, religious, cultural, and historical factors involved. In the context of international politics, theories are not scientific laws, they are simply guidelines which help explain the intervention policies nations pursue, and which serve to reduce at least some of the confusion as to why nations do what they do when a humanitarian crisis develops somewhere in the world."

Sample of Sources Used:

"African AIDS Crisis Still Largely Ignored." Journal of the American Medical Association. February 5, 2001.
Ayittee, George. "Time For a Blunt Message to Africa." Free Africa Foundation Journal. Volume 11. No.1. Spring 2001.
Harold, Craig. Blue Helmets. New York: U.N. Blue Books, 2004.
Holt, P. A History of the Sudan: From the Coming of Islam to the Present Day. New York: Addison-Wesley, 2000.
Nuechterlein, Donald. "National Interests and National Strategy," in Understanding U.S. Strategy: A Reader. ed. Terry L. Heyns. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University, 1983.