While the merits of intervention on humanitarian grounds can be debated, the capacity of states to wage war is not limited to those occasions where it can be justified, on that basis or any. According to some observers, the first decade of the 21st century witnessed a reassertion — in places like Georgia and Lebanon — of this more old-fashioned form of intervention. This syllabus on military intervention more broadly will help keep you abreast of these less sanguine developments.
Recent Journal Articles
America’s Military Interventionism: a Social Evolutionary Interpretation Shiping Tang, S R Joey Long European Journal of International Relations Published Online May 11, 2011 |
Explaining Public Support for the Use of Military Force: The Impact of Reference Point Framing and Prospective Decision Making Hector Perla Jr International Organization Published Online February 8, 2011 |
Foreign Intervention and Warfare in Civil Wars Adam Lockyer Review of International Studies Published Online January 5, 2011 |
Civil War Diffusion and Regional Motivations for Intervention Jacob D Kathman The Journal of Conflict Resolution Published Online July 7, 2011 |
Other Essays
“Obama’s Unconstitutional War” Bruce Ackerman Foreign Policy March 24, 2011 |
“Obama’s Illegal War” Editorial The Washington Times March 18, 2011 |
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“The Legal Implications of Military Intervention |
New and Upcoming Books
Coalitions of Convenience – United States Military Interventions after the Cold War Sarah E Kreps; Oxford University Press 2011 Click here to read a review |
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Extraterritorial Use of Force Against Non-State Actors Noam Lubell; Oxford University Press 2011 Click here to read a review |
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Necessity, Proportionality, and the Use of Force by States Judith Gardam; Cambridge University Press, 2011 |
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American Military Intervention in Unconventional War From the Philippines to Iraq Wayne Bert; Palgrave MacMillan, 2011 Click here to read a review |
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Ethics and the Use of Force – Just War in Historical Perspective James Turner Johnson; Ashgate Publishing, 2011 Click here to read a review |
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The Use of Force in International Law Tarcisio Gazzini, Nikolaos Tsagourias (eds.); Ashgate Publishing, 2012 |
Books being taught*
The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force
Martha Finnemore
Cornell University Press, 2004
Balancing Risks: Great Power Intervention in the Periphery
Jeffrey Taliaferro
Cornell University Press, 2004
Does Peacekeeping Work? Shaping Belligerents’ Choices after Civil War
Virginia Page Fortna
Princeton University Press, 2008
At War’s End: Building Peace after Civil Conflict
Roland Paris
Cambridge University Press, 2004
The Ties That Divide: Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy, and International Conflict
Stephen M Saideman
Columbia University Press, 2001
Deciding to Intervene: The Reagan Doctrine and American Foreign Policy
James M Scott
Duke University Press, 1996
*Selected from Professor Elizabeth Saunders’ course on Military Intervention at The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States.
Classics
Intervention in World Politics
Hedley Bull (ed.)
Clarendon Press/Oxford 1984
Foreign Military Intervention: The Dynamics of Protracted Conflict
Ariel E Levite, Bruce W Jentleson, Larry Berman (eds.)
Columbia University Press, 1992
The ISN’s own Digital Library contains further reading: