Self-help Test on Michael Walzer’s military intervention theory

Abstract

This paper analyzes the importance of Michael Walzer’s self-help test and discusses its importance as a link between a community’s internal conflict and foreign military intervention. After a brief introduction to self-determination theory in Walzer’s philosophical thought –describing self-determination and non-intervention principles within the presumption of state legitimacy–, the paper examines the concept of self-help. Also, it addresses the particular features of this mechanism, examining the two levels of this test as well as the consequences of passing both. Then, the study discusses the importance of military intervention –either counter-intervention or intervention in contexts of secession – as a guarantor of self-determination in the international realm. Finally, the paper challenges the philosophical connection established by Walzer between military victory and national representativeness through the study of the Syrian Civil War. The article concludes that the self-help test is a controversial yet interesting proposal combining the respect for self-determination commitment with military intervention in the protection of international stability