promotion of HR is a primary driver of western states

• Theme 1: humanitarian intervention

  • Some political theorists argue that human rights are the primary driver of western states as the west has intervened in countries where human rights were abused
  • Intervention in Kosovo in 1999 has been labelled as the pinnacle of humanitarian intervention, where NATO and the US forces prevented an attempt at ethnic cleansing from serbia
  • Blair set out principles for the state intervention in his chicago speech - " If right-minded nations see human rights abuses on a mass scale and the UN refuses to act, then it is a duty for these nations to act" - concept stems from the R2P introduced by the UN - principle represents the liberal idea that a state has a duty to uphold and protect human rights -> if they fail to do so, there sovereignty is retratcted and others tates have responsibility to step in -> mainly dictated by western nations - US mainly as it acts as a hegemon
• Theme 1 counter: contrary has been illustrated by the decline in intervetion over the past 20 years

  -> Mainly due to catastrophes of intervention in afghanistan, Libya and Iraq -> these intervetions were not only expensive but also cost many lives and were unsuccessful and did not achieve their aim -> iraw war was labelled as the three billion dollar war and is widely frowned upon by the international community -> decline of humanitarian intervention was illustrated by Obama's inaction in syria. Intervention in the civil war in syria was not in americas self-interest and thus he restrained from stepping in -> leading to huge rerugee crisis -> introduces the idea that realists principles of national self interest have returned -> argued that countries are only intervening in the russian invasion of ukraine to prevent the rise of Russia as a bipolar power potentially threatening global security once again
• Theme 2 Courts and tribunals

  International courts and tribunals play a key role in upholding justice and human rights globally. -> Special tribunals (e.g., ICTY, ICTR) set up by UN to try war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. -> Effective punishment & deterrence: ICTY indicted over 120 people, including top leaders. (ICC) created in 2002 as a last resort when national systems fail. -> Jean-Pierre Bemba (Congo) sentenced for war crimes (sexual violence as a weapon). -> Western dominance -> ICC took action after only 5 days of Ukraine invasion. -> ICTY stats: 64 convicted, 12 acquitted, many cases transferred to local courts -> ICTR (Rwanda): 46 convictions, dozens of cases still ongoing. ->ECHR also noted as important in promoting justice.
• Theme 2 AGAINST – Criticisms and Limitations of Courts and TribunalsThese institutions often act inconsistently and reflect Western bias, undermining their legitimacy.

  • Selective justice: Only African leaders indicted by ICC → led to AU discouraging cooperation.
  • Western abuses ignored:
  • Obama’s drone strikes killed civilians.
  • Guantanamo Bay torture practices unaddressed.
  • 2015 US airstrike on Afghan hospital killing 42 people.
  • Western dominance: ICC seen as tool for political goals rather than consistent justice.
  • Human rights narrative used to justify power, not protect rights.
  • Courts may promote global dominance more than human rights.
• Theme 3 sanctions:

  • The US trade embargo against Cuba -> the us banned conducting trade with cuban interests, cuban government refused to move towards democratisation and a greater respect for human rights
  • The government punishes dissent and public criticisms with beatings and surveillance, clearly disrespecting its citizen human rights -> while trade with Cuba would have been beneficial to the american economy, the US saw the issue of these human rights abuses to be more pressing -> the US and other western states have also placed extensive sanctions on iran, despite their oil reserves -> argument that human rights concerns are more important than politics or economics, and therefore that they are primary driver of western states
• Theme 3 sanctions counter: However, this argument is flawed and greatly undermined when underlying reasons for these sanctions are considered -> once again it seems that there are political motivations for such sanctions -> rational to place sanctions on a country but this was not done as it was not in national self interest of western states -> saudi arabia bombing campaign in yemen flattening towns -> been ignored by trump and biden due to Saudi arabias natural resources -> the US sells weapons -> Israel and current gaza conflict -> therefore sanctions are selective out of national self interest