John Stuart Mill and the Responsibility to Protect The Question of Intervention (Hardback) - Common

Castle Lecture Series

by Michael W. Doyle

The question of when or if a nation should intervene in another country’s affairs is one of the most important concerns in today’s volatile world. Taking John Stuart Mill’s famous 1859 essay “A Few Words on Non-Intervention” as his starting point, international relations scholar Michael W. Doyle addresses the thorny issue of when a state’s sovereignty should be respected and when it should be overridden or disregarded by other states in the name of humanitarian protection, national self-determination, or national security. In this time of complex social and political interplay and increasingly sophisticated and deadly weaponry, Doyle reinvigorates Mill’s principles for a new era while assessing the new United Nations doctrine of responsibility to protect. In the twenty-first century, intervention can take many military and economic, unilateral and multilateral. Doyle’s thought-provoking argument examines essential moral and legal questions underlying significant American foreign policy dilemmas of recent years, including Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, International Relations

Hardcover

First published January 13, 2015

Reviews

[J. Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Doyle makes a compelling argument for viewing John Stuart Mill as a unlikely ally for intervention, albeit a reserved one. Doyle raises Mill's concerns for intervention but seeks to identify cases where his noninterventionist principles either can be disregarded or do not apply. This book deserves special attention in the modern debate surrounding the role of intervention in our world today.

[Jennee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is honestly intense. Throughout the book, Doyle questions whether or not countries should intervene with other's. Doyle provides evidence to the causation of intervention. Intervention can cause more harm than good. Intervention can lead to colonialism or occupation. Doyle provides examples from Libya, Rwanda, Kosovo, etc. This was a very intellectual piece.