What Makes Humanitarian Military Interventions Effective?

0,11
MB

23
stron

6547
ID SIPRI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

2001
rok

Abstract

This article assesses the consequences of eight military interventions in Somalia and Rwanda in

terms of the number of lives saved. It argues that variations in outcome are mainly due to factors

under the intervenor’s control. To succeed, the decision to intervene must lead to identification of

the objectives of military action, which determine the strategy needed to save lives. Whether or not

a particular strategy saves lives depends on the intervenor’s motives, capabilities and response

time. A two-by-two matrix with one humanitarian dimension and one political dimension puts

humanitarian actions into political context and displays considerable explanatory and prescriptive

power. Among the findings is that most humanitarian interventions are far more likely to succeed

when the intervenor has political motives as well as humanitarian ones.