[Download] "Third World Perspectives on Humanitarian Intervention and International Administration." by Global Governance # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Third World Perspectives on Humanitarian Intervention and International Administration.
- Author : Global Governance
- Release Date : January 01, 2004
- Genre: Politics & Current Events,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 286 KB
Description
Three points are fundamental to the understanding of third world perspectives on the international administration of war-torn territories. First, it must be recognized that Third World perspectives on this issue are linked in substantial measure to third world perspectives on humanitarian intervention. This does not mean that the former are automatically shaped by the latter regardless of context. What it amounts to is that the third world's generally suspicious orientation toward humanitarian intervention forms the starting point for most third world states' evaluation of cases of international administration. These assessments of individual cases are, however, also influenced by many other considerations, including geographic proximity, fear of spreading disorder in the neighborhood, amity or enmity among certain regimes and states, and ethnic and/or religious affinities. Second, while third world perspectives on these subjects may share substantial similarities, there is no single third world perspective on either humanitarian intervention or international administration. Third world states adopt stances in particular cases depending on a number of factors, and one can especially see differences between the perspectives of states situated in different continents and subregions within continents. Third, the selectivity demonstrated in the choice of cases both for humanitarian intervention and the installation of international administration has had a major impact on third world perspectives on these symbiotically linked enterprises. On the one hand, it has added to third world suspicions while, on the other hand, it has encouraged several third world states themselves to push for intervention in certain cases and oppose it in others. Consequently, not only has the exercise of double standards become somewhat rampant in the sphere of humanitarian intervention, it has provided the critics of such intervention with their most potent ammunition against this enterprise. In this article I analyze in turn each of these facets of the problem. But, first, the term third world needs to be defined. In my definition, the term applies to all postcolonial states, including those--such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Thailand--that may not have been directly colonized by the European powers but whose political geography and political economy were by and large determined by bargains among the European imperial powers. This definition also includes the post-Soviet states of Central Asia and the Caucasus, the latest additions to the category of postcolonial states. Such a definition goes beyond more restrictive terms such as nonaligned countries. States belong to the third world on the basis of their inherent political and economic characteristics, not because of particular foreign policy orientations. In short, third world states are the late entrants into the system of states and are in the early stages of state making and nation building. These are the two defining variables that also determine their economic and social characteristics--that is, economic dependence and lack of societal cohesion. (1) These political and socioeconomic attributes, which make such states acutely vulnerable to internal dissension and external interference, greatly influence their attitudes toward humanitarian intervention and international administration.