Customer Reviews

Humanitarian Military Intervention: The Conditions for Success and Failure

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While the crisis in Darfur continues to elicit calls by NGOs, activists, and scholars to "do something," the actual options for military action in response to mass violence remain murky and poorly explored. Taylor Seybolt has done a great service in this rich exploration and assessment of the actual strategies available to outside actors seeking to intervene in humanitarian crises. Through careful analysis of humanitarian interventions in 6 conflict zones throughout the 1990s, Mr. Seybolt helps illuminate the prospects and challenges of 4 distinct intervention strategies. In doing so, he sheds some much needed light on the options available to those seeking to intervene in defense of civilians at risk, and provides guidance on the conditions necessary to translate 'good intentions' into 'good results.' While this analysis raises many cautions for would-be interveners, it also helps to provide some welcome clarity on how to 'do something' in a manner that succeeds in saving strangers from violence, starvation, and mass atrocities. An all around excellent and compelling read!