PHL378H1 Lecture 11: LEC11 – Humanitarian Intervention Oct 15 2009
PHL378: War & Morality
LEC11 – Humanitarian Intervention
Oct, 15th, 2009
! Waltzer: pg.101-102
! clear examples of pure humanitarian intervention is rare, usually its a mixed motives
! humanitarian intervention lacks territorial control as opposed to civil war, and there is not 2
political entities
! hence Waltzer says we should remain neutral in the second case (civil war) and not the first
one
! Waltzer: pg. 90
2 conditions for humanitarian intervention are allowed: enslavement / massacre
restrictive view
later added: ethnic cleansing (forced evacuations of ppl from their homes)
disagree with Luben on Nicuragura case
Millian Conception of Self Determination
! Waltzer reply to Luben
! it was better for US to not intervene b/c that way the insurgents could build up their
government them selves
! Luben says
even though self determination is one good thing, if we weight it against the harms it is
not always desirable
ie. by not intervening, we have lost many lives, and the government that formed later is
less effective, and the old government had more time to strip resources of country
Humanitarian Intervention & Civil War
! mainly different but some similarities
! similarity: there is political change in both cases
Luben & Just Cause for War
! a JW is a war fought in defence of basic rights
! basic rights: minimal rights for a person to enjoy other rights
! basic rights are of individuals
! basic rights include both negative rights (not to be killed), and positive rights (to have food,
water, shelter)
! JC of war would be food
! Waltzer recognizes only violation negative rights as a justification of war (restrictive)
! Luben recognize both negative and positive rights for justification for war (least restrictive)
! these are 2 extreme views
! aggressors are violating political self determination
! war is just if
! 1. fought in defence of socially basic rights (subject to proportionality)
! 2. fought in defence of an unjust war
! Iceland case
! iceland fired on British boats who were fishing on iceland fishing borders
! Waltzer's response to Luben's contract
! all that matters is that
! Algerian ex. and Swiss Chemical
www.notesolution.com
Document Summary
clear examples of pure humanitarian intervention is rare, usually its a mixed motives. humanitarian intervention lacks territorial control as opposed to civil war, and there is not 2 political entities. hence waltzer says we should remain neutral in the second case (civil war) and not the first one. 2 conditions for humanitarian intervention are allowed: enslavement / massacre restrictive view later added: ethnic cleansing (forced evacuations of ppl from their homes) disagree with luben on nicuragura case. waltzer reply to luben it was better for us to not intervene b/c that way the insurgents could build up their government them selves. similarity: there is political change in both cases. a jw is a war fought in defence of basic rights. basic rights: minimal rights for a person to enjoy other rights. basic rights include both negative rights (not to be killed), and positive rights (to have food, water, shelter)
