Military Intervention

Question 1

Military intervention

Answer 1

• geopolitical intervention to defend human rights takes many forms
• includes: direct military action , indirect military actions, non-military action, lack of action

Question 2

Direct military action

Answer 2

• Armed forces from one sovereign state engaging in conflict in another sovereign state
• This is often done as apart of a coalition, i.e. several countries acting collectively

Question 3

Indirect military action

Answer 3

• Military / political assistance e.g. military advisers, are provided from one sovereign state to another (or another military group within it)
• e.g. British army personnel trained Nigerian armed forces in 2017 to help the Nigerian army fight BOKO HARAM
• This is usually done in support of one side in a civil conflict
• Provision of military and political assistance to the regime’s armed and unarmed opponents
• methods include armed resistance, sabotage, political warfare and civil resistance
• offers an alternative option that could yield success with less risk and cost
• For indirect to work, the regime’s strengths and weakness must be attacked and its vulnerabilities exploited

Question 4

Military Aid

Answer 4

• money, weapons, equipment or expertise given to developing countries to help them protect their border, fight terrorism or combat geopolitical conflict

Question 5

Motives for intervention

Answer 5

• human rights violations
• war on terror
• providing military aid

Question 6

Interventions and Sovereignty

Answer 6

Western governments often condemn HR violations and use them as conditions for military intervention, which challengers ideas of national sovereignty.

• in most situations, intervention of one sovereign state in the affairs of another is considered illegal under international law. intervention breaches the principle of sovereignty, which itself is a crucial element of the operation under the UN.
• intervention by another state breaches the 4 aspects of sovereignty
• there needs to be very strong moral and ethical grounds for direct military intervention, as the bar of military intervention is high

Question 7

Sovereignty

Answer 7

the legal rights to govern a physical territory. has 4 aspects:

1. ​a government, organised within a territory, has authority over that territory
2. the government controls movement of people and goods across the territory’s borders
3. the government and territory is recognised by other governments
4. other organisations, outside the territory, do not have higher authority

Question 8

infant mortality

Answer 8

1. Infant Mortality (deaths before age 1, per 1,000 live births)
   - responds rapidly to changes in sanitation and access to basic health and nutrition
   - correlates strongly with the quality of governance in a state
   - however, recording is poor in isolated rural areas
   - improvemetns in health system sometimes leads to an increase in recorded infant mortality

Question 9

life expectancy

Answer 9

• widely understood, comparable measure
• easy to calculate
• however, responds relatively slowly to improving social conditions
• national average masks regional, local and ethnic variations

Question 10

GDP per capita

Answer 10

• widely used, easy to understand
• simple to update and calculate
• however, does not indicate income distribution or income equality
• does not take into account the cost of living

Question 11

HDI

Answer 11

• life expectancy, GDP per capita and average years in schooling
• increased data range and reduces the impact of anomalies

Question 12

GII

Answer 12

• combing material mortality, women’s participation in higher education and parliament, and participation in the workforce

Question 13

democracy as ‘success’

Answer 13

• freedom of expression is seen as central to the development of democratic and capitalist societies
• the introduction of democratic institutions is seen by western governments as the key outcome of intervention
• most countries that intervene are western, capitalist democracies
• these places equate freedom and democracy with success
• less than 40% of the worlds population live in countries that are “free” – there is very little tradition of freedom, democratic elections or gender equality in the Middle East
• 60 years ago, most African countries were colonies – so democracies has struggled to take root there
• western nations are critisised for forcing their own economic and political model on developing and emerging nations, when ‘success’ might actually be measured in terms of rising incomes, improving life expectancy and increasing participation in education
• 2015 survey by Pew Research Global found that only 53% of people in Pakistan and 52% in Turkey agreed that people should be able to criticise the government’s policies. In the USA and UK, the figures were 95% and 94%. Support for complete freedom of speech is not universal.

Question 14

Economic Growth as ‘success’

Answer 14

• success measured in terms of economic growth – less attention to holistic development or HR and the development of democratic institutions
• the concept of holistic development where many aspects of well-being are improved is seen as less important than wealth / incomes
• arguably this makes sense as in developing nations, without government-funded welfare system people have to pay for education, healthcare and clean water; rising incomes makes this possible far more than the right to vote
• families in developing countries often have elderly relatives that are dependent on them, income is needed for this when government pensions
• economic growth seen to lead to economic development
• on the other hand, ignoring the need for HR and democratic institutions as part of the development process risks authoritarian rule, poor governance, corruption, and the risk of minority group persecution

Question 15

costs of military intervention

Answer 15

• loss of sovereignty - any military intervention (by the UN or a coalition of countries) means the sovereignty of the country is severely eroded
• human rights violations - in some cases, intervention may make the bad HR situation worse. failed intervention risks prolonging conflict , with greater numbers of deaths, injuries and HR abuses
• short-term gains - this situation may be worse without involvement, UN intervention may prevent direct involvement by other countries, humanitarian help and aid
• long-term costs

Question 16

The USA’s war on terror

Answer 16

• after 9/11, George w Bush declared ‘war on terror’ – a global military, political and legal battle against terrorist organisation and any governments that supports them
• during this time, the US justified sending troops into afghan and Iraq under claims that the countries supported terrorists
• aim was to protect USA and its allies from further attacks and ensure global security
• however, led to views as demonising Muslims
• turned some Muslims in western countries into radical extremists
• contributes to the rise of IS - an extremist response
• made Middle Eastern countries take sides for or against the USA

Question 17

are non-military interventions better?

Answer 17

• may have a stronger record or improving human rights and development

Question 18

consequences of inaction

Answer 18

• according to Professor Paul Collier, the cost of a nation becoming a failed state was $30bn and recovery back to normal state took 59 years on average – in other words, long-term costs to human well-being and human rights may be worse than the short term costs of intervening