The Question of Intervention

The question of when or if a nation should intervene in another countrys affairs is one of the most important concerns in todays volatile world. Taking John Stuart Mills famous 1859 essay A Few Words on Non-Intervention as his starting point, international relations scholar Michael W. Doyle addresses the thorny issue of when a states sovereignty should be respected and when it should be overridden or disregarded by other states in the name of humanitarian protection, national self-determination, or national security. In this time of complex social and political interplay and increasingly sophisticated and deadly weaponry, Doyle reinvigorates Mills principles for a new era while assessing the new United Nations doctrine of responsibility to protect. In the twenty-first century, intervention can take many forms: military and economic, unilateral and multilateral. Doyles thought-provoking argument examines essential moral and legal questions underlying significant American foreign policy dilemmas of recent years, including Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.