THE ROLE OF REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION: THE CASE OF LIBERIA PEACEBUILDING OPERATION AND ECOWAS INTERVENTION

Year 2015, Issue: 35, 1 - 22, 01.12.2015

Burak Toygar Halistoprak

Abstract

Humanitarian intervention has been a controversial but also one of the most frequently used instruments of world politics. The literature on the subject is abundant of studies both written in a critical tone and also aiming at proposing a better framework for humanitarian intervention. On that sense, the identity of the intervening body is an important part of the debates on the humanitarian intervention. According to a line of argument in the literature, the interventions in which regional international organizations play significant roles give much more effective results for consolidating a long-lasting peace and security compared to the interventions conducted solely by broader international bodies. Addressing to this debate, this article focuses on the case of intervention to Liberian civil war and the role played by ECOWAS, a regional international organization established by West African countries, in this operation. Throughout the article, it is suggested that ECOWAS's regional identity facilitated the acceptance of the operation by both the peoples and the political figures in the country. With this aspect, the article underlines that the case of Liberia presents many lessons for international community in order to practice more effective and fruitful interventions.

Keywords

Humanitarian intervention, peacebuilding, Liberia, regional organizations, international organizations, ECOWAS, Africa, local ownership

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