ABSTRACT
This chapter consists of two parts intended to provide an overview of the foundational thoughts underlining international interventions. The purpose is to form an understanding of the assumptions and perspectives that have been established over the years and that penetrate strategies at all levels. Interventions incorporate means ranging from diplomatic talks to armed force via aid and development, and the objectives of these various tools are increasingly blurred. The first part of this chapter examines the strategies and practices in relation to interventions whether purely aid and development or by military force. It pays particular attention to “stabilization” as a central tool in current US foreign policy and examines the principles and values on which these types of international interventions operate. Portrayed as “universal,” they have a protected and almost untouchable position of centrality. The second part is formed around these central themes and examines available literature and perspectives expressed in either support or critique of the employed concepts. The broad nature of the subject addressed here necessitates a rather cruel and possibly unfair limitation on the body of literature included. Though somewhat shallow and brief considering the several fields covered, the aim is to provide an overview of perspectives on the mechanisms behind social order and disorder, and how to address these issues. It identifies and highlights the central tenets of international interventionist strategies related to peacebuilding understood to incorporate, as Tadjbakhsh argues (2009, 636), such as utilitarianism and universalism. The reader is however strongly encouraged to also read more widely on the subject.
