What are the main factors to be weighed by the international community in deciding whether to undertake intervention for humanitarian purposes?

Italy and R2P

https://www.onuitalia.com/2021/05/18/r2p-italia-vota-per-inclusione-annuale-in-agenda-assemblea-generale/

https://www.esteri.it/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/eventi/2020/09/del-re-all-onu-sforzo-instancabile-italia-a-protezione-civili_0/

Delivering Humanitarian Aid

Current

https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/where/europe/ukraine_en

https://www.intersos.org/en/yemen-humanitarian-intervention-as-the-only-way-to-prevent-the-countrys-collapse/

https://iep.utm.edu/hum-mili/#:~:text=Humanitarian%20intervention%20is%20a%20use,actions%20or%20failures%20to%20act.

https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/humanitarian-aid_en#:~:text=EU%20humanitarian%20aid%20covers%20intervention,crisis%20situations%20and%20relief%20operations.

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/missions-and-operations_en

then

https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4a8e5b072.pdf

http://www.un.org/en/sections/what-we-do/deliver-humanitarian-aid/ This covers a lot of UN emergency and longer-term interventions, where natural disasters have occurred or food resources are insufficient. These programs are usually authorized and welcomed by the local government if it is unable to respond on its own, and are not controversial, except in terms of effectiveness (speed, organization, costs etc.). See the work of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):

https://www.unocha.org/our-work/coordination

https://gho.unocha.org/

and the work of the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF)

https://cerf.un.org/

https://www.unocha.org/sites/unocha/files/120403_OOM-CERF_eng.pdf

and

https://www.unocha.org/sites/unocha/files/Security%20Council%20Norms_Final%20version%20for%20print%2017%20June%202014.pdf

https://www.unocha.org/our-work/coordination/un-disaster-assessment-and-coordination-undac

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11792/

https://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/humanitarian-aid/disaster_preparedness_en

Where a government is simply reluctant to authorize a foreign presence on its territory, this may present a serious challenge for the international community if that government is unable to deal with the situation, even when we are simply talking about relief in the event of a natural disaster.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/27/regime-blocked-aid-to-burma-cyclone-victims

https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/05/03/lessons-cyclone-nargis

And how should the international community respond if a government is unwilling to respond to a humanitarian crisis on its territory perhaps because there is a civil conflict going on? As the Syrian government starts to normalize its relations with neighbouring countries that till recently condemned its conduct and human rights violations in the civil war, the flow of humanitarian aidto Syrian refugees in those countries has continued. The UN and many member states have also responded to the recent earthquake by providing aid directly to Syria. The US and EU have, at least temporarily, eased their sanctions on the Assad regime to do this.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syrian-regime-arab-ties-gradually-normalizing-after-over-a-decade-of-ruptures/2871609#

https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2023/3/6411c5ff7/twelve-years-syrian-refugees-face-deepening-debt-hunger.html#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%203RP%20seeks,host%20community%20members%20with%20assistance.

https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15239.doc.htm

https://fts.unocha.org/countries/218/summary/2023

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/10/us-syria-sanctions-exemption-earthquake-relief

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/02/23/earthquake-in-turkiye-and-syria-eu-amends-restrictive-measures-in-place-regarding-syria-to-facilitate-the-speedy-delivery-of-humanitarian-aid/

recent past

https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sc14779.doc.htm

https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/un-aid-northern-syria-which-neutral-absolutely-essential-and-delivered

https://www.unocha.org/story/un-impartial-syria-it-elsewhere

https://www.unocha.org/syria

https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syrian-arab-republic-2020-humanitarian-response-plan-december-2020#:~:text=The%202020%20Humanitarian%20Response%20Plan,undertaken%20across%20and%20within%20sectors.

https://hum-insight.info/plan/1044

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/syria_2021_humanitarian_needs_overview.pdf

https://hum-insight.info/plan/1088

https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/statement-security-council-briefing-humanitarian-situation-syria-27

Yemen:

https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/where/middle-east-and-northern-africa/yemen_en#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20EU%20allocated,487%20million%20in%20development%20assistance.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/14/deadly-consequences/obstruction-aid-yemen-during-covid-19

https://www.unocha.org/yemen/about-ocha-yemen

https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/yemen-humanitarian-crisis/#:~:text=UNICEF%20says%20that%20the%20humanitarian,a%20critically%20underfunded%20UN%20system%E2%80%9D.

https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis

https://www.unicef.org/appeals/yemen

https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/sanctions/sanctions-regimes/Pages/yemen-sanctions-regime

And what should the international community do if that government itself is held to be the cause of, and responsible for, the crisis?

Responsibility to Protect

Some background

https://www.globalr2p.org/

https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/summary-of-the-2021-un-general-assembly-plenary-meeting-on-the-responsibility-to-protect/

https://www.peridirittiumani.com/2019/07/04/%EF%BB%BFla-dottrina-della-responsabilita-di-proteggere-tra-diritto-e-politica/

https://www.esteri.it/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/eventi/2020/09/del-re-all-onu-sforzo-instancabile-italia-a-protezione-civili_0/

https://press.un.org/en/2021/ga12323.doc.htm

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/02/20/council-conclusions-on-eu-priorities-in-un-human-rights-fora-2023/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect

https://www.globalr2p.org/resources/unga-r2p-debate-2021/

https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/un-general-assembly-adopts-new-resolution-on-the-responsibility-to-protect/

https://www.globalr2p.org/what-is-r2p/#:~:text=The%20Responsibility%20to%20Protect%20%E2%80%93%20known,cleansing%20and%20crimes%20against%20humanity.

https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/about-responsibility-to-protect.shtml

https://unric.org/en/unric-library-backgrounder-r2p/

https://www.globalr2p.org/what-is-r2p/

https://archive.unric.org/en/responsibility-to-protect/26981-r2p-a-short-history

https://archive.unric.org/en/responsibility-to-protect/26982-responsibility-to-protect-two-case-studies-with-alex-vines-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect (read carefully)

in particular: The Three Pillars of the Responsibility to Protect

Pillar I: The protection responsibilities of the state. This stresses that states have the primary responsibility to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

Pillar II: International assistance and capacity-building. This addresses the international community's commitment to help states build capacity to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, and to help those under stress before crises and conflicts break out.

Pillar III: Timely and decisive response. This focuses on the responsibility of international community to act in a timely and decisive way to prevent and halt genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity when a state manifestly fails to protect its population.

Note that:

The ICISS (International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty) argued that any form of military intervention is "an exceptional and extraordinary measure", and, as such, to be justified it must meet certain criteria, including:

· Just cause: There must be "serious and irreparable harm occurring to human beings, or imminently likely to occur".

· Right intention: The main intention of the military action must be to prevent human suffering.

· Last resort: Every other measure besides military invention has to have already been taken into account. (This does not mean that every measurement has to have been applied and been shown to fail, but that there are reasonable grounds to believe that only military action would work in that situation.)

· Proportional means: The military means must not exceed what is necessary "to secure the defined human protection objective".

· Reasonable prospects: The chance of success must be reasonably high, and it must be unlikely that the consequences of the military intervention would be worse than the consequences without the intervention.

· Right authority: The military action has to have been authorized by the Security Council.

Various experts have highlighted some of the problems that military intervention for humanitarian purposes may involve:

The mixed-motives problem - The legitimacy of R2P rests upon its altruistic aim. However, states will often be wary to engage in humanitarian intervention unless the intervention is partly rooted in self-interest. The appearance that the intervention is not strictly altruistic consequently leads some to question its legitimacy.

· The counterfactual problem - When R2P is successful, there will not be any clear-cut evidence of its success: a mass atrocity that did not occur but would have occurred without intervention. Defenders of R2P consequently have to rely on counterfactual arguments.

· The conspicuous harm problem - While the benefits of the intervention will not be clearly visible, the destructiveness and costs of the intervention will be visible. This makes it more difficult for proponents of the intervention to defend the intervention. The destruction caused by the intervention also makes some question the legitimacy of the intervention due to the stated purpose of preventing harm.

· The end-state problem - Humanitarian intervention is prone to expand the mission beyond simply averting mass atrocities. When successful at averting mass atrocities, the intervenors will often be forced to take upon themselves more expansive mandates to ensure that threatened populations will be safe after the intervenors leave.

· The inconsistency problem - Due to the aforementioned problems, in addition to the belief that a particular military action is likely to cause more harm than good, states may fail to act in situations where mass atrocities loom. The failure to intervene in any and all situations where there is a risk of mass atrocities lead to charges of inconsistency.

And Justice for All by Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-05-01/and-justice-all

summary https://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-haugen/and-justice-for-all-enfor_b_583217.html

Humanitarian Intervention: Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Rwanda by Timothy Stacey

http://www.telospress.com/humanitarian-interventioniraq-afghanistan-kosovo-rwanda/

From Libya to Syria: The Rise and Fall of Humanitarian Intervention by Füsun Türkmen

https://www.academia.edu/24049222/From_Libya_to_Syria_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Humanitarian_Intervention

The Crisis of Peacekeeping, Why the UN Can’t End Wars, by Séverine Autesserre

file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/FA%20UN%20Peacekeeping.pdf

The Sahel

The deployment of the Group of Five Sahel joint force (Force conjointe du G5 Sahel - FC-G5S) and the French Operation Barkhane against terrorist insurgents with the consent and cooperation of host governments.

https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc12881.doc.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barkhane

https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/analysis/operation-barkhane-success-failure-mixed-bag#:~:text=On%20November%209%2C%202022%2C%20the,to%20the%20Malian%20Armed%20Forces.

and the EU-led Takuba Task Force

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takuba_Task_Force

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/eus-takuba-anti-terror-force-quits-junta-controlled-mali/

More on Libya

https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/libya/

https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/libyan-lessons-bring-back-responsibility-rebuild

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/libya-the-responsibility-_b_841168

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/revisiting-the-humanitari_b_9445270

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/10/libya-unlawful-lethal-force-and-mass-arrests-in-unprecedented-migrant-crackdown/

http://www.jamespattison.org/uploads/1/2/5/1/12518815/libya.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_military_intervention_in_Libya

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/libya/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/01/libya-eu-conditions-remain-hellish-as-eu-marks-5-years-of-cooperation-agreements/

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/04/12/everyone-says-the-libya-intervention-was-a-failure-theyre-wrong/

https://newrepublic.com/article/121085/libya-no-model-humanitarian-intervention

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/libya-intervention-daalder_n_6809756

https://journal-neo.org/2015/10/17/nato-s-humanitarian-intervention-in-libya-exacerbated-humanitarian-suffering/

More on Syria

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/syria/

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/rybrf6/syria_in_2022_strategic_map_2600_2149/

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/14/syria-war-un-security-council-responsibility-to-protect-r2p-humanitarian-intervention-assad-russia-human-rights-civilians/#:~:text=The%20principal%20norm%20that%20has,being%20committed%20against%20civilian%20populations.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-law-idUSKCN12O2S3

http://www.e-ir.info/2014/02/11/syria-and-the-crisis-of-humanitarian-intervention/

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/vanity-bombing

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/10/syria-washington-obama-iraq-middle-east-intervention-assad-isis/505202/

https://www.lawfareblog.com/uk-legal-position-humanitarian-intervention-syria

https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/12/1108462

Central African Republic (CAR)

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/west-and-central-africa/central-african-republic/

https://ecr2p.leeds.ac.uk/the-central-african-republic-and-the-responsibility-to-protect/

https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/central-african-republic/

http://www.auschwitzinstitute.org/blog/r2p-response-to-crisis-in-car-too-little-too-late/

https://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2017/02/24/central-african-republic-what%E2%80%99s-gone-wrong

https://www.google.it/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwihvbjM3vPSAhXGUBQKHfY3D4wQFggoMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gpplatform.ch%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FPP%252012%2520-%2520What%2520went%2520wrong%2520in%2520the%2520Central%2520African%2520Republic%2520-%2520Mar%25202015.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHmHZBQDE5yS4QLpNRLQT12aJruaQ

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/02/18/how-the-international-community-failed-the-central-african-republic/?utm_term=.08f891c56e29

South Sudan

https://unmiss.unmissions.org/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/south-sudan/report-south-sudan/

https://www.nupi.no/nupi_eng/Events/2022/The-UN-in-South-Sudan-2022-Risks-and-opportunities-in-an-uncertain-peace-process

https://www.nupi.no/nupi_eng/Publications/CRIStin-Pub/Assessing-the-Effectiveness-of-the-United-Nations-Mission-to-South-Sudan-UNMISS

Somalia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_I https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Operation_in_Somalia_II http://sites.tufts.edu/jha/files/2011/04/a178.pdf http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/readings/lessons.html

current mission:

https://unsom.unmissions.org/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/africa/somalia/report-somalia/

https://theglobalobservatory.org/2022/01/revised-agreement-on-african-union-mission-in-somalia/

Rwanda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_international_community_in_the_Rwandan_Genocide https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/02/rwanda-20-years-genocide-fork-road

What lessons does the outcome of the military intervention in Afghanistan provide for the US, NATO, the UN and the international community in general?

https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/lessons-wests-long-war-afghanistan-35961

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1231633.shtml

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhartung/2021/08/18/failure-in-afghanistan-over-40-years-in-the-making/?sh=4c162cb7c437

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1231633.shtml

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/17/nato-blames-afghan-government-for-taliban-takeover.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/czech-president-natos-failure-afghanistan-puts-its-legitimacy-question-2021-08-17/

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/europe-urges-unity-taliban-quiet-failed-mission-79480086

For many commentators the fundamental condition remains this one:

So the R2P doctrine does not, in itself, authorize reckless military interventions

https://opencanada.org/r2p-is-not-a-license-for-military-recklessness/

the basic question remains – will an intervention be effective? https://theglobalobservatory.org/2022/01/revised-agreement-on-african-union-mission-in-somalia/

Would we want to send large-scale UN forces into Syria or Yemen even if this were authorized? Are we sure there are reasonably high prospects of success or might we make things even worse? Of course, watching the suffering going on and doing nothing is also tremendously frustrating. The UN in Yemen is trying to get both sides to stick to a ceasefire but the prospects for fostering real respect for human rights seem poor.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1110312

https://osesgy.unmissions.org/

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050711

https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14352.doc.htm

https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14470.doc.htm

https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1087462

But is this really the best the international community can do in such situations? Is it enough? These are not easy questions to answer.

https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/64721/node/64721_ko

https://www.esteri.it/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/eventi/2020/09/del-re-all-onu-sforzo-instancabile-italia-a-protezione-civili_0/

Saudi Arabia and Iran, the supporters of the two sides in Yemen, are now promoting peace and reconciliation. Will their efforts be successful and end the human rights violations?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/21/saudi-iran-deal-view-from-yemen

English for Diplomacy

mercoledì 26 aprile 2023

Retirement age

martedì 25 aprile 2023

Economic Diplomacy and its role in the work of the Italian diplomatic corps –background and sources

Il Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR)

https://www.mef.gov.it/focus/Il-Piano-Nazionale-di-Ripresa-e-Resilienza-PNRR/

in English - The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP)

and then, what has been done so far:

Agenzia per la promozione all'estero e l'internazionalizzazione delle imprese italiane (ICE) / The Italian Trade Agency

Diplomacy and the wider context of Italian diplomacy

venerdì 21 aprile 2023

Best prepared for the Green Transition

martedì 18 aprile 2023

Letters to the Editor page

sabato 15 aprile 2023

Migrants crossing the Mediterranean - an update

Il metodo intergovernativo nella gestione delle crisi e il futuro della democrazia nell’Unione europea - Nicola Ruccia

International intervention for humanitarian purposes

What are the main factors to be weighed by the international community in deciding whether to undertake intervention for humanitarian purposes?

Italy and R2P

https://www.onuitalia.com/2021/05/18/r2p-italia-vota-per-inclusione-annuale-in-agenda-assemblea-generale/

Delivering Humanitarian Aid

Responsibility to Protect

in particular: The Three Pillars of the Responsibility to Protect

And Justice for All by Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros

Humanitarian Intervention: Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Rwanda by Timothy Stacey

The Crisis of Peacekeeping, Why the UN Can’t End Wars, by Séverine Autesserre

file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/FA%20UN%20Peacekeeping.pdf

Central African Republic (CAR)