Why do global strategic interests drive intervention?
Defend human rights
Establish democracy
Display hard power
Resource/land expansion
Spheres of influence
Justification of military aid
Money provided from one sovereign state to another to buy military equipment
UK gave military aid to 17/30 countries on UK's human rights watch list e.g. Israel, Saudi Arabia
Pros
Helps global security
Better than doing nothing
Political pressure by attaching conditions
Cons
Ignoring human rights abyses is effectively condoning them
Continuing to support a government that represses its citizens undermines the principle of human rights protection
Some aid ends up being used to commit further human rights abuses
The War on Terror
US responses to 9/11 attacks
Protect US and ensure global security
USA justified sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq - claimed they supported terrorists
However, protecting human rights became a justification for military action
15 months prior to invasion of Iraq in 2003, US and UK leaders worked hard to explain why military action was justified against Saddam Hussein and Iraq
Claims of weapons of mass destruction, oil
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
'Extraordinary rendition' - the secret transfer of a terror suspect, without legal processes, to a foreign government for detention and interrogation
These acts were seen as 'necessary evils', with the need for information to prevent any future attacks outweighing arguments against torture
Damaging to US reputation - torture and breaking human rights laws
