Humanitarian Intervention in International Society

3 units

One of the more striking features of post-Cold War international society has been the development of a theory and practice of humanitarian intervention. This course explores the background, causes, nature, and limits of these changes. The course is interdisciplinary in nature, combining legal, moral, and political analysis, with an emphasis on the legal question of whether today there is so-called legal right of humanitarian intervention. The course does not assume prior background in international relations. We therefore also spend time introducing a few central concepts and issues in international relations, in order to provide a theoretical framework for our substantive inquiries into humanitarian intervention.