Abstract
On November 9, 1992, United States Marines landed on the shores of Somalia amid a sea of reporters and cameras. The United States entered Somalia not at the request of the United Nations, but rather after unilaterally volunteering to protect food distribution and daring others to join its crusade. The United Nations quickly ratified the United States's offer, authorizing the newly formed multilateral force to use "all necessary means."' Many leaders and commentators have proclaimed this ratification as evidence of the advent of a "New World Order," where nations work together to promote human rights and where an emboldened United Nations leads the crusade against human suffering as well as for international peace. However, in the post-Gulf War period, the United Nations has been slow, and at times unable, to act to preserve human rights. Consequently, other commentators have argued that nation-states must be able to unilaterally use force to save others from the ravages of their own brutal despot.
Recommended Citation
Burmester, Byron F.
(1994)
"On Humanitarian Intervention:
The New World Order and Wars
to Preserve Human Rights,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1994:
No.
1, Article 12.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1994/iss1/12