ABSTRACT
Humanitarian intervention is to quell major human rights infractions that have caused, and will continue to cause if not stanched, the horrific suffering of innocents. Military intervention to prevent or halt a potential or actual genocide was relatively rare during the Cold War years. The complexities surrounding humanitarian interventions are many, and no doubt that is why most have not been as effective as they could or should have been. Based on first-hand experience and research, Barnett asserts that the bureaucratic nature of the United Nations directly and adversely impacts the effectiveness of its intervention and peacekeeping efforts. In many cases, the inaction by individual states, regional organizations, and/or the United Nations is a lack of political will. When scholars have discussed why members of the international community have not attempted to prevent a genocide and/or why interventions have been so ineffective, the primary explanations have centered on the lack of political will and/or realpolitik.
