A History of Humanitarian Intervention

An examination of the historical narratives surrounding humanitarian intervention, presenting an undogmatic, alternative history of human rights protection.

Mark Swatek-Evenstein (Author)

9781107695863, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 July 2021

290 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.424 kg

'It will provide fresh, challenging insights for any student of humanitarian intervention specifically, but international law more generally.' Gary Wilson, Liverpool Law Review

The question of 'humanitarian intervention' has been a staple of international law for around 200 years, with a renewed interest in the history of the subject emerging in the last twenty years. This book provides a chronological account of the evolution of the discussion and uncovers the fictional narrative provided by international lawyers to support their conclusions on the subject, from justifications and arguments for 'humanitarian intervention', the misrepresentation of great power involvement in the Greek War of Independence in 1827, to the 'humanitarian intervention that never was', India's war with Pakistan in 1971. Relying on a variety of sources, some of them made available in English for the first time, the book provides an undogmatic, alternative history of the fight for the protection of human rights in international law.

1. The battlegrounds of a history of 'humanitarian intervention'
2. A history of 'humanitarian intervention' in nineteenth-century international law
3. Humanitarian intervention in the era of the league of nations
4. The world after 1945.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], International humanitarian law [LBBS], International human rights law [LBBR], Public international law [LBB], International law [LB], Law [L], Human rights [JPVH], International relations [JPS], Genocide & ethnic cleansing [HBTZ]