new guise for roughly the same undertakers? --- Although quite prominent, indeed, in the 1990s, the phrase humanitarian intervention (HI) tends to employ a narrative for its justification that is not too dissimilar to what was used in the past during the justification of other "altruistic" undertakings: colonialism and imperialism. During both ages, pretty much the same agents as nowadays argued in favour of lofty ideals: the need to bear the responsibility of a mission civilisatrice, whether it be to Christianize and uplift the souls of barbarians conquered for their own benefit (colonialism) or civilize in the name of progress other "lower souls"(imperialism). It would appear that use of political violence in the name of ideals is ubiquitous. When one reads both Sven Lindqvist "Exterminate all the brutes" and Todorov's the conquest of America with the lense of assessing narratives underpinning intervention they all appeal to an altruistic one.

Source author: Mariano Griva mgriva@hotmail.com