Armed Intervention

Armed Intervention

      World history is fraught with unrest. To assist in restoring a semblance of order, and deter countries from unnecessary warfare, The United Nations Charter, developed in 1945, specifies conditions in which force may be used legally. These conditions include self-defense, when force is authorized by the United Nations Security Council to maintain and restore international peace and security, and by regional collective defense action (Viotti & Kauppi, 2009, p 183). Armed interventions are a type of force that can be sanctioned by the United Nations. Typically, armed interventions involve the deployment of military personnel to a foreign country in order to tip the balance in a civil war, restore order, maintain peace, or physically coerce a state to change its policies (Viotti & Kauppi, 2009, p 166).

      Interference in the domestic affairs of another country is usually illegal according to the United Nations Charter, which encourages countries to settle their international disputes by peaceful means and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state (Viotti & Kauppi, 2009, p 184). Countries are given the option of arbitration or a judicial countermeasure from the International Court of Justice. However, these tribunals do not have reinforcement powers (Viotti & Kauppi, 2009, p 184). Therefore, in many cases it is sometimes necessary for countries to stage an armed intervention. Usually, these interventions are justified by the participants as a measure to restore international peace or to serve humanitarian purposes (Viotti & Kauppi, 2009, p 183).

      Given the current unrest in the world, it is not surprising that internal wars, not interstate wars, are the most likely threat to international peace and security (Viotti & Kauppi, 2009, p 184). Internal wars are often difficult to contain, and more often than not become...