Foreign Intervention

During the 20th century it became more common, especially for Western democracies, to feel a moral compunction to intervene militarily in foreign countries to put a stop to what they consider crimes against humanity. States do sometimes believe it is legitimate to intervene in order to defend core interests of a humanitarian nature, to fight against international terrorism, or for the purpose of “nation building”. But who decides what constitutes legitimate intervention? According to a UN declaration of 1965, legitimate intervention in nation states does not exist. In some cases of course moral indignation merges with underlying geopolitical reasons for wishing to intervene, such as safeguarding access to oil, to trade routes, consolidating spheres of political influence etc.

One could pose the question the other way around and ask why do states not intervene when it would seem wholly justifiable for humanitarian reasons to do so? An example here is the Rwanda genocide of 1994. If ever there was a case for so-called legitimate intervention, that seemed to be it, and yet those who could have intervened did nothing to stop the massacre.

Ever since the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1839, the country has been treated as a battlefield for regional ambitions, but history has shown how difficult if not impossible it is to contain extremism in Afghanistan. The British suffered a devastating and humiliating defeat. Then Soviet Russia invaded in 1979 as part of its strategy to alienate Afghanistan from the west. Again, the consequences were catastrophic and Soviet Russia finally had to withdraw 1989. The purpose of the US intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 was to destroy Al-Qaeda. That has not happened, nor has the relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda been broken, nor is there greater stability within the country.

The topic under discussion is well-covered in the news media at the moment, so there is plenty of easily available material online. Below are a few links to further material. But basically what you need to bring with you are your opinions.

Clicking on each link below will take you to a relevant article.

Timeline of the US War in Afghanistan
Mapping the Advance of the Taliban
America’s war in Afghanistan
History tells us that outsiders can never bring peace to Afghanistan
The Taliban Take Control
The Ides of August
Biden Was Right

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