(Download) "Humanitarian Intervention and the Distribution of Sovereignty in International Law (Essay)" by Ethics & International Affairs * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Humanitarian Intervention and the Distribution of Sovereignty in International Law (Essay)
- Author : Ethics & International Affairs
- Release Date : January 22, 2008
- Genre: Politics & Current Events,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 321 KB
Description
What is the relationship between the legality and legitimacy of humanitarian intervention? By "humanitarian intervention," I mean an uncontroversial definition of the concept, namely, "the threat or use of force across state borders by a state or group of states aimed at preventing or ending widespread and grave violations of the fundamental human rights of individuals other than its own citizens, without the permission of the state within whose territory force is applied." (1) By legality, I mean whether and under what conditions international law authorizes such actions. By legitimacy, I mean the normative status of humanitarian intervention as an instrument of international justice. Legal debates about humanitarian intervention tend to assume that its legitimacy is irrelevant to its legality. The legality of intervention turns not on whether it makes the world a better place but on whether it has been authorized by the United Nations Security Council. Debates among philosophers and political theorists often assume the inverse, that the legality of humanitarian intervention is irrelevant to its legitimacy. From this perspective, the legitimacy of intervention turns on the nature of ethical obligations that individuals or states owe each other in the context of grave human rights violations, not on what the Security Council may or may not say on the matter.