ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that global society has developed a set of rules that permit, but do not require, forcible intervention to stop gross violations of basic security rights. The globalization of human rights values and the globalization of information media have combined, especially since the end of the Cold War, to push the development of norms of humanitarian intervention. Human rights principles coexist, and remain in tension, with the principle of territorial control. The chapter explores whether evolving rules of humanitarian intervention constitute an opportunity for international society to enforce certain human rights norms. Liberal values, emphasizing the autonomy and dignity of each person, undergird clusters of international rules whose purpose is to safeguard a core of basic individual rights. The chapter explores the international political context of humanitarian intervention since 1990. It outlines a logic of norm change and examines how the basic rule structures of international society have shifted. The chapter describes two fundamental norms of humanitarian intervention.
