The end of the Cold War triggered the spread of multiparty politics across the global south and the former Soviet Union. The western democracies argued this form of governance would ensure the rule of law, human rights and constitutionalism. However, in the recent past a worrisome trend has emerged where these global powers support opposition leaders in order to oust legitimate but antagonistic elected leaders in foreign. More often than not, this political change is engineered in wanton disregard of the country’s constitution and the relevant provisions of international law. This geopolitical conundrum is portrayed by the purported ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine in 2014 and most recently President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Despite being the duly elected leaders of their respective countries, they were illegitimately ousted opposition leaders supported by western powers. In the same vein, these political changes usually initiated using force contrary to the relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter and other relevant principles of international law. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has established a concrete body of jurisprudence on this subject matter though the same is yet to be codified in international law. Broadly speaking, this paper argues this practice is unequivocally illegal and equivalent to infringement upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of these countries.
The use of military force to forestall humanitarian crisis remains a controversial issue in international law. This strategy is considered antithetical to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the host country. This legal quandary emanated in 1998 after NATO launched a series of airstrikes against the Yugoslavian forces under the doctrine of humanitarian intervention. This legal conundrum prompted the United Nations to craft comprehensive legal principles to determine the parameters of foreign interventions in armed conflict. The objective was realised in 2005 after the UN adopted the Right to Protect (R2P) as means of resolving humanitarian crisis. This doctrine intended to harmonise the foreign intervention in light of the shortcomings of unilateral humanitarian intervention. However, the abysmal failure in resolving the Libyan crisis exposed its soft underbelly as tool for perpetuating regime change against unpopular leaders. Subsequently, when Security Council proposed similar remedy for Syrian conflict, Russia strenuously objected and advocated for a political and diplomatic solution. This geopolitical gridlock prompted the divided council to adopt a different scenario in dealing with the Syrian conflict with the west supporting the rebels while Russia stood by Assad. This prompted Assad to appeal for assistance from Russia in counteracting ISIS and rebel forces that threatened to depose his government. In 2017 President Putin announced the success of the Russian intervention and called for peace talks among the various warring factions. As such Russia had realised the humanitarian objective behind R2P while respecting the sovereignty of Syria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.