This book critically analyses the 2011 intervention in Libya arguing that the manner in which the intervention was sanctioned, prosecuted and justified has a number of troubling implications for the both the future of humanitarian intervention and international peace and security.

This book critically analyses the 2011 intervention in Libya arguing that the manner in which the intervention was sanctioned, prosecuted and justified has a number of troubling implications for the both the future of humanitarian intervention and international peace and security.

This book critically analyses the 2011 intervention in Libya arguing that the manner in which the intervention was sanctioned, prosecuted and justified has a number of troubling implications for the both the future of humanitarian intervention and international peace and security.

From Kosovo to Libya, humanitarian intervention is seldom out of the news. While the 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P) has often been at the centre of these debates, its effectiveness as a means of preventing and resolving mass atrocities is disputed. The book provides a systematic overview of the theory and practice of R2P, and examines how the doctrine has been interpreted and implemented since it was first conceived. Aidan Hehir argues that, while it has undeniably raised international consciousness regarding humanitarian intervention, R2P has not significantly improved the international response to large-scale intra-state crises. Hehir advances an alternative strategy involving a strengthening of international law – based around obligations rather than discretionary rights – and major structural reform to the United Nations. Broad-ranging and insightful, this innovative text provides a clear grasp of the key issues and debates surrounding humanitarian intervention and advances a major new critique of R2P.

In early 2011, Libya came under attack by NATO countries purporting to engage in a humanitarian intervention to protect the Libyan people. In actuality, this was part of a larger-scale Western strategy to redesign the entire Middle East to suit its interests. This book addresses Libyan history of the last hundred years, from the main phases of the Italian military occupation (1911-1943) to the dramatic events of our own times, including an account of the post-war monarchy, Gaddafi’s rise to power, the air strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi ordered by Reagan in 1986, and the Lockerbie affair. Sensini exposes the 2011 misrepresentations by the mainstream media, major NGOs and even the International Criminal Court that sought to legitimize the NATO attack. He takes a close look at the Western organized and financed “rebels” in Benghazi who provided the pretext for UN approval of Resolution1973 embodying the new so-called “responsibility to protect” (R2P) doctrine. This criminal intervention devastated Libya, unleashing a civil war unlikely to cease in the near future. Sensini sheds light on the role of Hillary Clinton and the 11 September 2012 murder of American Ambassador Chris Stevens. The R2P upshot? Untold waves of migrants seeking to flee the continental chaos, leading to thousands of deaths and drownings across the Mediterranean, and the potential destabilization of Europe. “Dismissing the claim that the West’s Gaddafi-killing intervention in Libya, which played a big role in the chaos in the Middle East, was for humanitarian reasons, this book explains the real reasons. Of special interest is the author’s discussion of the central role played by “the ever-destructive Hillary Clinton.” – David Ray Griffin,

Since the end of the Cold War, humanitarian interventions have continued to evolve and respond to a wide range of political crises. These insightful essays focus on the challenges associated with interventions when facing conflict and human rights violations, unmitigated systematic violence, state re-building, human mobility and dislocation. Each chapter is linked to the rest through three defining themes that permeate the book: the evolution of humanitarian interventions in a global era; the limits of sovereignty and the ethics of interventions; and the politics of post-intervention: (re)-building and humanitarian engagement. The authors incorporate a variety of case studies including Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Syria, Libya and Iraq, and examine the complexity of interventions across their different dimensions, including relevant doctrines such as R2P, 'Use of Force' and Human Security.

An original reconstruction of the evolution of and international diplomatic response to the 2011 Libyan crisis, which draws on a diverse range of sources including in-depth interviews with politicians and diplomats to understand the real-world application of the UN's 'Responsibility to Protect' principle.