The Intervention Imperative: Contradictions Between Liberalism, Democracy, and Humanitarian Intervention

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorGreaves, Wilfrid
dc.contributor.editorFitzsimmons, Scott
dc.contributor.editorMcDougall, Alex
dc.date.accessioned2020-12-18T19:54:33Z
dc.date.available2020-12-18T19:54:33Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractSome ideals and practices exist at the interstice between democracy and liberalism, deriving their roots from one or both yet in conflict with some element of either liberal or democratic foundational principles. One such concept is humanitarian intervention, a contested notion theoretically and morally grounded in the traditions of liberalism and democracy. Despite its liberal-democratic origins, humanitarian intervention reveals tensions between these political and moral frameworks, highlighting the contradictions between them and calling into question the very practice of humanitarian intervention by liberal democratic states. These tensions manifest themselves in three different ways. First, with respect to the basic principles underlying the practice of intervention, liberalism and democracy are not in accord. Second, the two frameworks diverge in their understandings of the appropriate method for authorizing the decision to stage an intervention, resulting in a democratic deficit in the conduct of global politics. Third, even an effective intervention raises serious issues resulting from contradictions between the moral imperatives of liberalism and the democratic right of peoples to self-determination. While these tensions are not irreconcilable, they demand hard questions of liberal, democratic, or liberal-democratic states that would undertake military intervention for humanitarian reasons.
dc.identifier.issn1480-6339
dc.identifier.issn1480-6387
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/112885
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38480
dc.publisher.departmentPolitical Science
dc.publisher.facultyArts
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgary
dc.rights© Innovations: A Journal of Politics 1998-2049
dc.titleThe Intervention Imperative: Contradictions Between Liberalism, Democracy, and Humanitarian Intervention
dc.typejournal article
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
innovations_vol8_6_Greaves-Intervention-Imperative.pdf
Size:
80.34 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.94 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
Collections
Volume 8, 2008-2009