Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century

Damian Grenfell editor Aiden Warren editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Edinburgh University Press

Published:11th Jun '17

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century cover

Case studies include Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Syria, Libya and Iraq. Examines the complex issues of the morality and legality of international interventions; non-military interventions (sanctions and aid); humanitarian intervention and Responsibility to Protect.

These insightful essays focus on the challenges associated with interventions when facing conflict and human rights violations, unmitigated systematic violence, state re-building, human mobility and dislocation. Case studies including Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Syria, Libya and Iraq.Since the end of the Cold War, humanitarian interventions have continued to evolve and respond to a wide range of political crises. These insightful essays focus on the challenges associated with interventions when facing conflict and human rights violations, unmitigated systematic violence, state re-building, human mobility and dislocation. Each chapter is linked to the rest through three defining themes that permeate the book: the evolution of humanitarian interventions in a global era; the limits of sovereignty and the ethics of interventions; and the politics of post-intervention: (re)-building and humanitarian engagement. The authors incorporate a variety of case studies including Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Syria, Libya and Iraq, and examine the complexity of interventions across their different dimensions, including relevant doctrines such as R2P, ‘Use of Force’ and Human Security.

This thought-provoking volume makes a significant contribution to debates about intervention. Eschewing conventional approaches to the subject, the book tackles some key issues, from the evolution of humanitarian interventions, the limitations of sovereignty, through to the politics of post-intervention (re)-building and humanitarianism. Important case studies from Timor-Leste to Syria and Libya are also included. This timely book will be of interest to both scholarly and policy audiences. -- George Lawson, London School of Economics
This rigorous multi-disciplinary volume redefines interventions as attempts at social transformation related to different domains (economic, social, military, humanitarian) and actors (local, national, regional, international), resulting in a much appreciated call to scholars, students and practitioners to study and think of interventions as complex, inter-related, multi-faceted, multi-level political and social processes. The emphasis on local contexts, actors, institutions and power relations as defining factors for understanding the dynamics and outcomes of interventions makes this book a valuable contribution to the literature. -- Liesbet Heyse, University of Groningen
An invaluable series of studies, rich in theory and varied in substance, that admirably depict the multiple complexities of interventionary diplomacy as it has unfolded in recent decades. Indispensable reading for all those concerned with the shifting parameters of world politics. -- Richard Falk, Princeton University

ISBN: 9781474423816

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

336 pages