Criteria for Armed Intervention

Criteria for Armed Intervention

Helen Shoemaker

LIB320

Paul Edleman

May 23, 2010

    The text describes criteria for deciding on armed intervention, there are three different criteria’s set by the United Nations: unilaterally, multilaterally when authorized by the UN Security Council and multilaterally by regional collective defense action (Viotti & Kauppi 183). The first criterion is unilaterally for self-defense of one state from another. An example would be if one state is attacked by another, that state can retaliate with an attack. The second criterion is multilaterally when authorized by the UN Security Council. This criterion is used to “maintain or restore international peace and security” (Viotti & Kauppi 183). An example of this second criterion is the peacekeeping mission of NATO in Bosnia. The United States joined this peacekeeping mission with the “intention to halt the genocide” (Aruri 4). The third and final criterion is multilaterally by collective defense action. This means more than two states working defensively together for a common objective in one region. These are the three set criteria’s for armed intervention; they can however conflict with one another.

    Before there is an armed intervention there is usually five other factors that should   be looked at which are   sovereignty, national interest, human rights, expected net effect on the human condition, and degree of multilaterism.   It is very important when the president makes the decision to utilize armed intervention to ensure that all of the pro’s and cons of the out come of the intervention have been looked at to the best of their ability.     All this means really is what is the damage or life loss from this type of action.   Is the outcome going to be worth the cost?   The use of or consideration of these five criteria’s is one way that there is a conflict.   The conflict is between the unilaterally criteria and the self-defense criteria. Simply put if while under...