Social Philosophy and Policy

Table of Contents - 2004 - Volume 21, Issue 01  


UNAUTHORIZED HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION a

Mark S.  Stein  a1
a1 Government, Dartmouth College

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In this essay, I offer a utilitarian perspective on humanitarian intervention. There is no generally accepted precise definition of the term ‘humanitarian intervention’. I will provisionally, and roughly, define humanitarian intervention as the use of force by a state, beyond its own borders, that has as a purpose or an effect the protection of the human rights of noncitizens or the reduction of the suffering of noncitizens.


Footnotes

a I acknowledge with thanks the comments of James Bernard Murphy, who is more distrustful of unauthorized humanitarian intervention than I am. For illuminating discussions of humanitarian intervention, I thank the contributors to the American Society of International Law Listserve, including Anthony D'Amato, Jason Beckett, Andre de Hoogh, Jorg Kammerhofer, Francisco Martin, Iheke Ndukwe, Jordan Paust, and Alfred Rubin.