The Lawfulness of Humanitarian Intervention

Authors

Michael J. Reppas

First Page

463

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

This article addresses the conflicting claims of territorial sovereignty and humanitarian intervention, analyzes how these claims have been resolved in the past, and predicts how current trends in resolution will affect the global common interest. Part II discusses, in detail, the conflicting theories of territorial sovereignty and humanitarian intervention. Part III analyzes the trends in decision-making and the conditioning factors since the end of the Second World War that have motivated the United Nations to establish international law and a specific protocol for when humanitarian intervention is justified. Part IV analyzes the history between the United States and the former Soviet Union and considers the possibility of joint United States and Russian missions aimed at ending human rights violations. Finally, Part V offers recommendations on how the United Nations can best amend its practices and procedures to ensure future United States support and participation in humanitarian interventions. This author contends that the United Nations must continue to evolve into a world policeman of human rights violations. To do this, it must have the guidance, strength, and legitimacy of the United States behind it.

Recommended Citation

Michael J. Reppas, The Lawfulness of Humanitarian Intervention, 9 St. Thomas L. Rev. 463 (1997).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/stlr/vol9/iss2/9