Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention: A Fresh Legal Approach Based on Fundamental Ethical Principles in International Law and World Religions - Softcover

"Lepard provides a fresh exploration of legal and moral justifications for humanitarian intervention. . . . He opens new analytic vistas and provides a foundation for resolving conflicts over the content of the law. He applies the framework in masterly examinations of intervention in Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Kosovo. Rarely do we see an author sustain as much sensitivity to opposing arguments while constructing a strong ethical basis for shaping diplomacy, ethics, and international law. This is a ground-breaking and, in its moral sweep, even a breath-taking book."-Robert C. Johansen, University of Notre Dame "Brian Lepard brings a massive research effort to bear in support of his fresh approach to humanitarian intervention. By relying on a blend of ethics, religion, and law, this study challenges the validity of both realism and liberalism as the basis for policy and interpretation in international relations. An excellent book that deserves a wide readership and much discussion."-Richard Falk, Princeton University "This is a work that is really not like anything before and that should be read to be appreciated."-OJPCR: The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution "Overall, Lepard's book represents a major and creative effort to come to terms with complex legal and ethical dilemmas posed by humanitarian intervention. The analysis will be of considerable interest to anyone seeking insights into these dilemmas."-David Wippman, American Journal of International Law "Lepard's timely book touches on . . . the role religion might play in resolving conflicts involving human rights violations."-Victoria Barnett, Christian Century "This treatise is methodologically sound, informative, and well-researched."-Itai Sneh, Political Science Quarterly "A monumental accomplishment. . . . The strength of the book . . . is Lepard's analysis of ethical and religious traditions, and his meticulous connection of these traditions' imperatives to key provisions in the UN Charter."-Peter J. Hoffman, Ethics and International Affairs "The outcome of Prof. Lepard's considerations is enormously significant.In making an explicit connection between international human rights law and religion, Prof. Lepard has taken this trend to the next level." -One Country "To stop history from repeating itself, Brian Lepard's guide offers a clear legal road map for humanitarian intervention. He draws principles from international law and religious texts to help interveners solve ethical conflicts between human rights and national sovereignty, the use of force and peaceful conflict resolution, or effective intervention and remaining impartial."-Economist "Lepard provides a fresh exploration of legal and moral justifications for humanitarian intervention. After constructing an original theoretical framework based on both international law and ethical principles drawn from the world's major religious traditions, he enables readers to cut through sterile, inconclusive legalistic debates about humanitarian intervention. He opens new analytic vistas and provides a foundation for resolving conflicts over the content of the law. He applies the framework in masterly examinations of intervention in Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Kosovo. Rarely do we see an author sustain as much sensitivity to opposing arguments while constructing a strong ethical basis for shaping diplomacy, ethics, and international law. This is a groundbreaking and, in its moral sweep, even a breathtaking book."-Robert C. Johansen, University of Notre Dame "Brian Lepard brings a massive research effort to bear in support of his fresh approach to humanitarian intervention. By relying on a blend of ethics, religion, and law, this study challenges the validity of both realism and liberalism as the basis for policy and interpretation in international relations. An excellent book that deserves a wide readership and much discussion."-Richard Falk, Princeton University

Few foreign policy issues in the past decade have elicited as much controversy as the use of military force for humanitarian purposes. In this book Brian Lepard offers a new method for analyzing humanitarian intervention that seeks to resolve conflicts among legal norms by identifying ethical principles embedded in the UN Charter and international law and relating them to a pivotal principle of "unity in diversity." A special feature of the book, which avoids the charge of ethnocentricity brought against other approaches, is that Lepard shows how passages from the revered texts of seven world religions may be interpreted as supporting these ethical principles. In connecting law with ethics and religion in this way, he takes a major step forward in the effort to formulate a normative basis for international law in our multicultural world.