United Nations and International Humanitarian Intervention

The phenomenon of international humanitarian intervention dates back to the early 19th century, when some European countries intervened in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire under the pretext of protecting the rights of religious and ethnic minorities living under its rule and facing inhumane treatment. Following this justification, the European countries demanded that the Ottoman Empire cease such treatment and grant the minorities autonomy within its borders or independence, in the name of protecting humanitarian values. The Ottoman Empire rejected these demands, which prompted the European countries to intervene militarily under the pretext of protecting minority rights. This book examines cases of United Nations intervention in Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Rwanda. It focuses primarily on the international humanitarian intervention in northern Iraq, considering it the first such intervention after the end of the Cold War, directed at a pivotal Arab state whose stability, or lack thereof, significantly impacts the Arab regional system. The question that arises here is whether the United Nations, through its interventions, has been able to achieve its humanitarian objectives, or whether it has merely been a tool in the hands of the major powers. To achieve its political goals by employing United Nations resolutions in the post-Cold War era?