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Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War Paperback – February 1, 2007

by Jean Bricmont (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 32 ratings
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Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention—discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938.
Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries.
Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.

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  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Monthly Review Press
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    5.4 x 0.5 x 8.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1583671471
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1583671474
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jean Bricmont is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is the author of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science (with Alan Sokal) and other political and scientific publications.

Diana Johnstoneis a distinguished researcher and commentator on contemporary global politics. She is the author of The Politics of Euromissiles: Europe’s Role in America’s World (Verso, 1985). Her writings have been published in New Left Review, Counterpunch, and Covert Action Quarterly.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Monthly Review Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 1, 2007
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ English
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1583671471
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1583671474
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • ewaffle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out polemic
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    According to Richard Falk, a lawyer and specialist on international law, "Intervention is like the Mississippi River; it flows North to South. Terms like "humanitarian intervention" and "the responsibility to protect" are now ineradicable parts of the Western discourse on policy toward the global south, establishing a new norm in international affairs. This book is a necessary left-wing counter to the increasingly accepted justifications the supposed need for invasion and occupation to defend human rights. Their view is that the U.S. system of capitalist democracy is the model to
    which all other nations should conform; Bricmont's point that it is important to those in power to confine public debate with the narrow limits of whether tactics are effective--should we use Tomahawk missiles launched from ships or Hellfire missile fired from drones--and not to challenge the aims and strategies of the armed intervention itself.

    Ably translated by Diane Johnstone who knows a quite a bit about the subject herself.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Annie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Humanitarian Imperialism
    Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2012
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    For me, an American college kid, the mainstream media & professors taint all of history and current events (usually in our favor) to the point at which it's not "giving perspective" but outright brainwashing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE everything about this country but our foreign polity has much room for improvement! I was required to read this book for a political science class and I am so happy I did! I have read this entire book of my own volition, intrigued (and sometimes outright disgusted with my former ignorance of the situations that the news lies about or ignores while choosing to repeatedly talk about the Octomom!).

    GREAT READ! It is worth it. Also, although controversial and complex topics are showcased in the book, the writing is accessible!
    5 people found this helpful
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  • jcb
    4.0 out of 5 stars Resurgence of Imperialism
    Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2012
    Format: Paperback
    The collapse of the Soviet Union and its associated political project in the 1990's had a number of consequences. The political movements which had a symbiotic relationship to the old Soviet Union i.e. left wing movements ranging from Stalinists to anarchists fell into political disarray. The economic impact was equally severe, the `planned' economies of `actually existing socialism collapsed and the free market re-emerged in a manner reminiscent of the 19th century. The most important consequence has been the resurgence of imperialism. This has manifested itself in the unending series of wars and interventions which began with Kosovo in the late 1990s. Today the West is at war in Afghanistan having wrecked Iraq. Military intervention in Iran is being proposed by Israel. In addition to military intervention, torture has returned once more as an instrument of state policy.
    Unlike the 19th century when the slave trade or some such provided a justification for attacking other lands the imperialism of today requires a new ideological legitimacy cloaked in suitably soothing tones. This ideology goes under the banner of `humanitarian intervention'. Bricmont's book is an analysis and critique of this ideology.
    Bricmont writes in a clear and simple fashion. In the chapter on Power and Ideology he makes the important points: a justifying ideology is always necessary when one one state attacks another. In democratic societies ideology is very important for thought and social control. Unlike North Korea where I imagine the populace have few illusions regarding their rulers, in democratic societies we believe ourselves to be masters of our own minds. In the 19th century King Leopold of Belgium took over the Congo, the ostensible reason was to defeat Arab slave traders. In a similar vein when Britain built its empire it was invariably for the good of those subjugated.
    Bricmont defines the West as being USA and Europe.He defines imperialism to `designate Western colonial or neo-colonial policies in the Third World. He also makes the important point that decolonisation and not commumism was the most important feature of the 20th Century.
    Bricmont's critique focusses on the disregard for international law in favour of human rights as a justification for interventions. Leftists who 20 years ago would have opposed interventions in other States. have now become liberal imperialists. He points out that unending interventions have one direction only: that of unending war., a war of strong states against weak ones
    Chapter 4 "Weak and strong arguments against War" provides excellent examples. Quoting a Canadian professor Michael Mandel ` contemporary international law has as its aim ....to preserve future generations from the scourge of war. To achieve that no country has the right to send its troops into another country without the consent of its government. This `government' merely needs to control the armed forces. It does not have to an elected government. International law for Bricmont is better than no law at all. Using this argument he then raises the question of why some attacks are `legitimate' but not others. Was the Japanese attack on Pearl harbour legitimate?
    Bricmont points out that liberal thought sees three political forms
    * The war of all against all
    * An absolute sovereign
    * Liberal democratic order.
    The liberal imperialists in the West support democracy at home but interventions abroad. One aspect missing from the analysis is the gross military imbalance between the Western powers and the many states that have been attacked by the West. The Battler of Omdurman in 1898 was between a british expedition led by Kitchener' and and Ansar army led by Abdullah Al Tashi. Numerically much stronger than the British the casualty outcome of the battle was "Around 10,000 Ansar were killed, 13,000 wounded and 5,000 taken prisoner. Kitchener's force lost 47 men killed and 382 wounded (see
    (source:[...]. The military imbalance today is on a similar scale
    The recent overthrow of the Libyan state facilitated by NATO bombing highlighted the disparity in military power and is possibly a reason why the West is emboldened to pursue further interventions. The UK newspaper The Guardian recently had an online poll on whether Nato airstrikes should be launched against Syria. This reflects a mentality and a confidence that these weak states cannot fight back against the West
    The more subtle aspects of the ideology is the use ofWW2 as a n example of what should have been done in the 1930s. The futility of WW1 is rarely discussed. Similarly the ideologues have mutated Western Armies into a Mother Teresa charity operation. Armies by definition are for fighting and along with occupation comes torture , resistance etc.The liberal's response is to argue for a better planned `occupation'. Arguing against something on the basis that it doesn't work is not a principled approach, for instance torture worked for the French in Algeria. Similarly drone technology can be improved and bring less collateral damage. Although Bricmont decries moral absolutism,suppose international law is changed to reflect NATO's wish to use the UN as a proxy political force - how does one argue against that?
    To this reviewer there is a case for a priori principles in arguing against pragmatism. Bricmont has written a fine polemical critique which deserves a wide readership.
    8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Giuseppe
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lesenswert.
    Reviewed in Germany on September 26, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Empfehlenswert.
    Zusammenhänge und Blickwinkel, die im saturierten Mainstream gewohnt überheblicher westlich-demokratischer Alltagsberichterstattung niemals vorkommen.
    Vorallem für bellizistische Gutmenschen, Regime-Change-Befürworter und imperialistische Weltbefreiungsbescheidwisser mit festgefügtem Weltbild auf dem Niveau des derzeit gültigen Bundespräsidentendarstellers (2016) absolute Pflichtlektüre - allerdings halt im Nischenidiom English und nicht in der Weltsprache Deutsch ...
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  • Amigo Paulo
    5.0 out of 5 stars superlative book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2007
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The adoption of the humanitarian war rationale has had a particularly damaging effect on what remains of the Left in Western countries; one of the basic tenets for Leftists should have been to oppose imperial wars, and it has been disconcerting to witness the adoption of the human rights lingo to either co-cheerlead wars, accept portions of the rationale for war or simply to demonstrate unreflective muddled thinking. Jean Bricmont's book, Humanitarian Imperialism, is a clearly written guide through this moral maze, an unmasking of tendentious interpretation of history, and an antidote to the principal malaise afflicting our times: hypocrisy. It is an important contribution to help the Left to assess critically history, and to break through an intellectual logjam surrounding the so-called humanitarian wars.
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  • Patrice Mathurin
    3.0 out of 5 stars Book
    Reviewed in Canada on July 10, 2020
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    It is a really bias book. His researches are well done but it feels like a right wing propanga
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  • Ayat
    5.0 out of 5 stars Neo-libaral military interventions exposed
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Should be required reading for all aspiring Development professionals. Exposes "human rights" facade during all recent military interventions in Iraq, Syria, Lybia etc. Not only interventions ruin the economies, fabric of societies but increase barbarism in third world countries. Perfect illustration of how neo-liberalism works.
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  • abasu1979
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Return of the White Man's Burden?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2007
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is a book for, and about, the left, although it is of interest to anyone concerned about politics and ideology. Professor Jean Bricmont's target in this polemic, is a new caste of 'radical' and liberal thinkers who have misappropriated and misused ideas such as a democracy, freedom and above all, human rights, for the defence and promotion of occidental imperialism. In doing so, they have not only fractured the left, but have also subverted the discourse of its non-imperialist and even anti-imperialist wings. The result is a weakened, (almost non-existent) antiwar movement, and a depoliticized populace which can easily be exploited to finance wars of aggression clothed in humanitarian rhetoric.

    Professor Bricmont's account commences with a consideration of the importance of ideology in a democratic state where force is not the main means of social control. He makes the important, (but rarely stated) point that it is easier to deceive the public in a democracy than in a dictatorship, because in the latter, the common man tends to distrust the media. He goes on to provide an overview of the general state of relations between the Third World and the West, with an emphasis on the agonies of imperialism, as well as the difficulties and dangers involved in resisting Western hegemony, (notably for the Soviet Union.)

    Subsequent chapters challenge the human rights arguments normally given for war, as well as the weaker antiwar assertions, which, in the professor's view, do more harm than good. The author favours arguments based on international law, (apparently unaware of Bacon's adage relating laws to cobwebs) and those founded on solid anti-imperialist principles.

    To his credit, Professor Bricmont goes on to provide a systematic analysis of various techniques employed in human rights propaganda for war, (such as drawing false and misleading parallels with fascism) and diversions, (such as futile peace plans) which keep opponents preoccupied. Taken together, this constitutes a significant exposure of media manipulation methods, which leave the reader much the wiser.

    Sadly, 'Humanitarian Imperialism' does not offer more than this. Whilst a piercing and well-founded critique of its subject, it fails to provide a sufficiently strong alternative to the 'imperial socialism' of Washington's 'useful idiots'. Part of the reason for this lies in the Eurocentric perspective of the Western left which has led it to ignore another form of imperialism that is now preying on innocents around the globe: the theological tyranny of Islam. As a result, radicals, socialists and communists - who played such a heroic role in combating capitalist imperialism in the 20th century, have failed to find a voice in challenging the jihadist imperialism of the 21st century. The great beneficiary of this vacuum has been the far right in Europe and North America.

    One is left to conclude that this excellent book is nonetheless fighting yesterday's battle. Despite the belligerent rhetoric in Washington, the Iraq fiasco marks the end of humanitarian imperialism for the foreseeable future. Neocon is already a pejorative term, and American power in proving increasingly impotent in the multipolar world - a fact that even the Bush administration is beginning to realize. In contrast, fuelled by demography, fanaticism and abundant oil revenues, an older, more intransigent imperialism is reviving and infiltrating non-Muslim societies around the globe. It remains to be seen whether leftists can avoid becoming the 'useful idiots' of this form of colonialism as well.
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