African Perspectives on Intervention and State Sovereignty

Bibliographic Data

ID12337388
AuthorsSTANLAKE JTM SAMKANGE (City University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume11
Issue1
Pages73-84
Publication date2002-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Security Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1024-6029 • E-ISSN: 2154-0128
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10246029.2002.9627783
OpenAlexW2079775771
LanguageEN
Citations received3

Intervention which violates state sovereignty is often justified by its humanitarian goals. In Africa, the debate goes beyond humanitarian objectives and considers intervention when collapsed state authority threatens regional security. Poorly planned interventions can do more harm than good while also weakening the norm of non-intervention in international relations. The brutal and often degrading history of colonization and neo-colonialism still influences African thinking on intervention. Africa's relative geopolitical weakness has compelled it to rely strongly on the international rules. African state's view on intervention should be rethought in the light of failed states, the spill-over of conflicts, threats to the democratic process and an abject failure to act in the face of hummanitarian catastrophe. Military intervention should be an exceptional action of last resort but it will remain an option while states are unwilling or unable to protect their own populations. The objective should be prevention through good governance and the democratic process

Corporate governance · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Geopolitics · Harm · Humanitarian intervention · International community · International law · Intervention (counseling · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Psychological intervention · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law · Medicine

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