AbstractsPolitical Science

All over the world internal conflicts take place where hundreds and thousands of innocent people suffer from human rights abuse, often committed by the state, or one or more of the parts in the conflict. In some instances the situations of human rights abuse are so grave and systematic that it can only be described as genocide. How can and will the international community respond to these situations? In this thesis I will take a closer look at the concept of humanitarian intervention. The aim of the thesis is will be to provide answers to the question: Under which conditions political, social, economic and moral - will there be humanitarian interventions and what seems to be the most crucial triggering factors? The cases of humanitarian interventions taking place during the 1990s included in this thesis are all cases where the international community, through the UN but led by the United States, have intervened with military force as a reaction to humanitarian crisis within another state. The question I want to ask in this thesis is what made the international community decide to initiate a humanitarian intervention to put a stop to these incidents of grave and systematic human rights abuse? Because of the United States position in the international community in the period, the focus will be on the US decision, and analysis will therefore focus on these interventions: Northern Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. The framework of this analysis is inspired by Alexander L. George s (1979) structured, focused comparison method which makes it possible to draw generalizations from a small number of cases. The method stipulates that one must structure the analysis of each case around a set of standardized general questions and focus selectively on those aspects of each case that are relevant for the research question. Based on this I have structured the thesis around how four selected factors have influenced the intervention decision. In the general debate about humanitarian interventions several explanations and theories have been put forward to explain why individual states or the international community makes the intervention decision. I have been drawing on these when formulating the set of standardized questions I will ask in each case. I have decided to focus on these four variables: Variable 1: The first variable concerns the so-called CNN effect. What role does the media play in the period leading up to an eventual humanitarian intervention? Does media focus trigger the use of force for humanitarian purposes? The media has also been said to have the reverse effect the so-called body-bag syndrome. The role of the media can even be that state leaders use the media to get domestic support for their policies. Variable 2: The national interest is often mentioned in discussions about humanitarian intervention. According to Jakobsen (1996: 206), every post-Cold War UN peace enforcement operation has been followed by a discussion about whether it was driven by national interest calculations or not.…