The unquiet dead: Humanitarian intervention, the fall of Srebrenica, and political will as a normative linchpin (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

This dissertation examines the effect of the fall of Srebrenica on the normative status and customary legal status of humanitarian intervention. By analyzing the implications for the international protection of human rights and international humanitarian law in general, it assesses the impact that geopolitics, domestic considerations and political will have on normative or emerging principles of international law. The central question posed is whether a genuine doctrine of humanitarian intervention exists at international law, and if so, whether it is consistently upheld.; The findings of this thesis indicate a significant discrepancy between scholarly consensus on the normative status of humanitarian intervention and the actual record of state practice. Those who advocate the normative status of the doctrine argue that military intervention in defence of human rights is necessary, because the protection of human rights is an essential component of the international peace and security system. Further, violation of state sovereignty in this respect is lawful because a fundamental component of state sovereignty is that states derive their legitimacy from popular consent and the protection of human rights. Where states fail to protect their populations, or act against them, traditional notions of sovereignty are trumped and humanitarian intervention becomes a legitimate and lawful response.; Yet, the findings of this thesis demonstrate that where intervention has occurred in the past, the human protection motive has been a pretext that covered reasons of state, or was absent altogether. In addition, there has been an overwhelming lack of intervention where human rights abuses have been at their worst, undercutting the doctrine.; The general practice of states is and has been since the 17th century to respect the sovereignty of states by not intervening when governments exterminate or persecute their own citizens. States prioritize national interest well ahead of any international legal obligations imposed by membership in the United Nations, human rights covenants or customary international law. Without a significant reconfiguring of geopolitical interests---one that conceives of human rights protection as a vital national interest in and of itself---it is unlikely that humanitarian intervention will achieve the status of normative international law.; The single most important factor in realizing the normative status of humanitarian intervention is the feasibility of mobilizing both domestic and international political will to respond to human rights crises, such that there is consistent and efficacious implementation of the doctrine. It is precisely because of such events as the fall of Srebrenica that realization of the doctrine is critical: the danger of unwillingness to articulate and stand by conditions and circumstances that require states to intervene is that future Srebrenicas will occur undeterred and with impunity.