Foreign intervention Flashcards
Soverignty UN
This sacred principle of international law is enshrined in the United Nations Charter Article 2(VII) where due to the sovereignty of states the UN cannot intervene in domestic affairs unless requested to.
The significance of this article is seen in the aftermath of the Suez Canal Crisis in 1967, where the UN Secretary General had to withdraw the peacekeeping force UNEF I from the Sinai Peninsula as requested by Egyptian President Nasser.
Sovereignty- War on Terror
After the September 2001 terrorist attack, US began the war on terror to flush out terrorism and Al Queda. During the War on Terror, US distorted intelligence to justify an unrelated errand in Iraq and then, in spite of fierce resistance at the United Nations, chose to invade anyway. It killed innocent civilians in war zones. It subjected terrorist suspects to indefinite detention and torture. The US War on Terror which involved the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq was deemed as an infringement of sovereignty and not ethically justified to many observers.
‘democracy-planting’ > perpetuate terrorism, war on terror
America’s ‘democracy-planting’ project in Iraq after its invasion in 2003 led to a decade of missteps and some even argued that it sowed the seeds for the birth of the extremist organization ISIS. Furthermore, by giving into war-weariness in the War on Terror, it resulted in the breathing of new life into adversaries like the Taliban and allowing groups like ISIS to flourish as they found a new purpose in defeating the US and its allies.
Vietnam war
America’s debacle in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s witnessed the American people growing in anger and disillusionment at successive American Presidents for prolonging what they saw was an unnecessary and futile war that was far from home. This was especially so when there was an ongoing, pressing civil rights movement in America. Furthemore, Lyndon B.Johnson’s assurances that the US was going to win the war were false, the televised war led Americans to believe that they were ‘mired in stalemate’ and that the Vietnam war was a never-ending one. Leading to disillusionment and distrust of the government.
war on terror $$?
Similarly, this is seen in the US War on Terror where federal spending on post-9/11 military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world stands at $6.5 trillion through fiscal year 2020, according to a new study from the Cost of War project at Brown University.
UN- ‘Responsibility to protect’- Rwanda
The United Nations proclaimed the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine in 2005 which laid out the moral duty for countries to protect citizens from leaders perpetuating mass murder. This stemmed from guilt for not responding to horrendous humanitarian crimes; as seen in Rwanda 1994 genocide where 800,000 people died as the UN delayed Peacekeeping action because of hidden vetoes from US and France. Even when Peacekeeping forces were sent in, they arrived in Rwanda in driblets and possessed only an observer force mandate.
Myanmar refuse aid
Myanmar refused to accept international aid in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in 2008. This was due to the government being a military dictatorship then, causing it to be suspicious of international media and attention into what was happening in Myanmar. It was only after more severe economic sanctions that Myanmar eventually allowed aid workers into the region.
globalisation causes domestic issues to spread- COVID-19,
This is seen in how COVID-19 quickly spread over the world, even though it first began in China. Should China have quickly shared information and collaborated with the international community to eradicate the virus, perhaps COVID-19 would not have become a global pandemic of such a large scale.
Quote on foreign intervention
“Because you can’t intervene everywhere, you don’t conclude you can’t intervene anywhere.”- Zbigniew Brzeziński ( former US National Security Advisor)
globalisation causes domestic issues to spread- haze
Environmentally, Indonesia’s haze problems affecting the southeast asian region dated back to 1998. Because of slash-and-burn methods to clear vegetation, haze started to affect Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
globalisation causes domestic issues to spread- AFC
Economically, the Asian financial crisis of 1997 was triggered by the collapse of the Thai baht. This resulted in capital flight and chain reactions which eventually culminated in the slump in currencies and increase in debt in the economies of Southeast asia as their economies were heavily interconnected with each other.
