POLSCI 4D06 Study Guide - Final Guide: Kenneth Roth, International Humanitarian Law, Humanitarian Intervention

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLSCI 4D06
• Professor: Mark Busser

Document Summary

Goodhart/general information: promoting human rights may exacerbate humanitarian suffering or vice versa (promoting humanitarian intervention leading to human rights violations). This is often labelled as the dilemma/trade-off between peace & justice". Impartiality (aid delivered solely on basis of need) during humanitarian effort and neutrality (intervention strives to not affect balance of power) often inversely related: norm of state sovereignty began eroding in 1948 by un"s convention on prevention & Punishment of the crime of genocide (state sovereignty was considered norm prior) In 2001, international commission on intervention and state sovereignty (iciss) concluded there was a responsibility to protect" (obligation for states to intervene to protect civilians on humanitarian grounds). This further eroded state sovereignty: non-intervention in rwanda (1994) and darfur (2003) has been criticised. Once something labelled genocide, states are obligated to intervene. State actors therefore often reluctant to acknowledge international atrocities: moral hazard of humanitarian intervention can occur when expectation of intervention encourages rebellion.