Professor Michael W. Doyle, Harold Brown Professor of International Affairs, Law and Political Science, Columbia University
What should our rules for international nonintervention and intervention be if they are to reflect the modern conscience by simultaneously trying to adhere to three (contradictory) principles. The first is the cosmopolitan commitment to humanitarian assistance, irrespective of international borders; second is respect for the significance of communitarian, national self-determination; and, third, is accommodation to the reality of international anarchy -- the absence of reliable world government -- that puts a premium on self-help national security.
Professor Michael Doyle explores these questions in a “dialogue” with John Stuart Mill’s classic (1859) attempt to outline an ethical doctrine of nonintervention and intervention. He engages in a one-sided debate with Mill as he explores the significance of the many historical examples he employs to support his argument. Do they actually support his conclusions? Could they, given what he knew or should have known? Given what we now think we know? Professor Michael Doyle's conclusion will be that, persuasive as the moral logic of his argument for liberal intervention sometimes is, the facts of the particular cases John Stuart Mill cites actually tend to favor a bias toward nonintervention—that is, against overriding or disregarding nonintervention. That said, enough of his argument survives to warrant a firm rejection of strict noninterventionism.
Professor Michael W. Doyle is the Harold Brown Professor of International Affairs, Law and Political Science at Columbia University - School of International and Public Affairs. He co-directs the Center on Global Goverance at Columbia Law School. His most recent publication is Striking First: Preemption and Prevention in International Conflict (Princeton Press.) He is the chair of UN Democracy Fund, elected by the members and appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Charles E. Merriam Awardof the American Political Science Association, a biennial award given “to a person whose published work and career represent a significant contribution to the art of government through the application of social science research.”
This lecture is organised by The Centre on Human Rights in Conflict Spring Events Series 2010
Full details of the series on www.uel.ac.uk/chrc or to confirm your attendance contact Victoria Perry v.perry@uel.ac.uk
All welcome, refreshments provided, admission free.
© 2008
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