An Alternative Authorization Institution for Legitimate Humanitarian Intervention

Abstract

<p>At present, the United Nations Security Council has exclusive power over the authorization of humanitarian intervention. Any intervention, regardless of intentions or success, which proceeds without explicit authorization from the Security Council is both illegal and of questionable legitimacy. However, there are strong reasons to believe that the Security Council is a sub-optimal decision making body and therefor ill-suited for this task. The purpose of this thesis is to explore these reasons and propose that Standardized Regional Organizations are an ideal alternative to the Security Council.</p> <p>This thesis proceeds in three chapters. The first chapter discusses the intricacies of humanitarian intervention and the inherent conflict between state sovereignty and international human rights protection. This chapter explores the core issues which an authorizing institution would have to weigh in any humanitarian crisis. The second chapter outlines the exact role which an authorizing institution plays in the norm of humanitarian intervention and the specific qualities which an ideal institution requires. The third and final chapter utilizes conclusions drawn in the first two to critically examine potential alternatives to the Security Council. After demonstrating that all the alternatives available in the literature are problematic, and Standardized Regional Institutions are proposed and defended.</p> <p>The Standardized Regional Organization proposal calls for Regional Organizations to adopt a new, standardized institutional model which will massively improve their ability to properly deal with humanitarian crises. By building transparency safeguards and accountability mechanisms into Regional Organizations’ decision making procedures they become highly reliable bodies for the authorization of humanitarian intervention. This approach captures the standing practical benefits inherent to Regional Organizations and adds philosophical rigour to their decision making procedures.</p>