ABSTRACT

The international community sometimes reacts when situations of humanitarian abuse are deemed to be severe enough to warrant armed intervention. The ramifications of intervention to the wider human community must also be considered. Important considerations such as; risk to intervening forces, economic and political costs/benefits of intervention, the morality of using force to settle disputes, the strategic capability to intervene, and national interest concerns are of vital interest to potential interventionists. One advantage of moral minimalism is that simple notions of right and wrong are useful as intuitive moral prompts to encourage international attention, and then maybe intervention. Military interventionists initially need to take on the role of peacemaker in order to create an environment where peacekeeping and peace-building may be effective. Domestic support is an important factor underpinning potential intervention. The United Nation has a pivotal role in military intervention for humanitarian reasons.