Introduction

Article 2 under 7 of the Charter of the United Nations is clear in case a recognised state is subject to an intervention: "Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state". This article contains a codification of the territorial integrity of a State principle. Under the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, rather than having a right to intervene in the conduct of other states, states are said to have a responsibility to intervene and protect the citizens of another state where that other state has failed in its obligation to protect its own citizens against international crimes or natural disasters. Responsibility to Protect is the name of a report produced in 2001 by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) which was established by the Canadian government in response to the history of unsatisfactory humanitarian interventions. The report sought to establish a set of clear guidelines for determining when intervention is appropriate, what the appropriate channels for approving an intervention are and how the intervention itself should be carried out. It argues that the notion of a 'right to intervene' is problematic and should be replaced with the 'responsibility to protect'.

This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research on Intervention. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.

Bibliography

New titles

Librarian's choice

• Coady,C.A.J., Dobos, N., and Sanyal, S., (eds.), Challenges for Humanitarian Intervention : Ethical Demand and Political Reality, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018.

  

  Ten new essays critique the practice armed humanitarian intervention, and the 'Responsibility to Protect' doctrine that advocates its use under certain circumstances. The contributors investigate the causes and consequences, as well as the uses and abuses, of armed humanitarian intervention. One enduring concern is that such interventions are liable to be employed as a foreign policy instrument by powerful states pursuing geo-political interests. Some of the chapters interrogate how the presence of ulterior motives impact on the moral credentials of armed humanitarian intervention. Others shine a light on the potential adverse effects of such interventions, even where they are motivated primarily by humanitarian concern. The volume also tracks the evolution of the R2P norm, and draws attention to how it has evolved, for better or for worse, since UN member states unanimously accepted it over a decade ago. In some respects the norm has been distorted to yield prescriptions, and to impose constraints, fundamentally at odds with the spirit of the R2P idea. This gives us all the more reason to be cautious of unwarranted optimism about humanitarian intervention and the Responsibility to Protect.

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• Lockyer, A., Foreign Intervention, Warfare and Civil Wars: External Assistance and Belligerents' Choice of Strategy, London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

  

  This book examines the impact of foreign intervention in the course and nature of warfare in civil wars.

  Throughout history, foreign intervention in civil wars has been the rule rather than the exception. The involvement of outside powers can have a dramatic impact on the course and nature of internal conflicts. Despite this, there has been little research which has sought to explain how foreign intervention influences the course of civil wars. This book seeks to rectify this gap. It examines the impact of foreign intervention on the warfare that characterises civil wars through by studying the cases of the Angolan and Afghan civil wars. It investigates how foreign resources affect the military power of the recipient belligerent, and examines how changes in the balance of capabilities influence the form of warfare that characterises a civil war. Warfare in civil wars is often highly fluid, with belligerents adapting their respective strategies in response to shifts in the balance of military capabilities. This book shows how the intervention of foreign powers can manipulate the balance of capabilities between the civil war belligerents and change the dominant form of warfare. The findings presented in this book offer key insights for policy-makers to navigate the increasing internationalization of civil wars around the globe.

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Database

Blogs

• Extending the Coalition against Islamic State

  Yesterday, Turkey’s parliament has backed a motion that could allow its military to enter Iraq and Syria to join the campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants. While Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar have quickly joined the bombing campaign, Washington’s traditional Western allies had been slow to answer the call from U.S. President Barack Obama. France was the first Western country to respond, but this week national parliaments in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia have approved to join the global coalition against Islamic State too.

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• Hague Academy Model United Nations on Drone Warfare and International Law

  Directed energy weapons, drones, self targeting bullets, mobile tactical high energy lasers, military robots, spy weapons, weapons undetectable under an x-ray scan, remote controlled insect armies, self driving tanks, robotic mules, thermal camouflage, surveillance technologies and autonomous unmanned systems are some examples of the high tech weapons and military technology that are now used during warfare. The use of this state of the art military technology raises serious ethical and legal questions: (when) is the use of drones acceptable?

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• Interview: Dr. Christian Noack

  This month, our first time guest editor and colleague, Ms. Anna Duszczyk, invited Dr. Christian Noack from the University of Amsterdam, for an in-depth interview on the current crisis in Ukraine. Dr. Noack is an expert on Eastern European History, Media Studies and Slavonic Studies. In this interview, he will discuss his views on the current political situation in Ukraine and the role of Russia and the European Union in the crisis.

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Links

See also

More Research guides on War, Peace and Security

• Disarmament
• International Humanitarian Law
• International Peace and Security
• Use of Force
• War and Peace

PPL keywords

• Humanitarian intervention
• Intervention

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