for action through to the way in which enforcement services hand over to peacekeeping forces. Controversy over UN interventions throughout the 1990’s occurred when these humanitarian and political motives are blurred, as we witnessed in Somalia in 1993. Such criticisms erroneously argue that in place of a moral obligation, the UN interventions of the 1990’s reflects the re -emergence of Western imperialism, that is, a system of territorial domination and subordination of political, ideological, economic and social practices, with an imperial centre and periphery. 266 What exactly dictates whether an intervention is a success or not will be analysed, however put simply, a humanitarian military intervention will save more lives than are lost. 2. The Golden Age of Humanitarianism 2.1 The evolution of security threats The 1990’s and the end of the Cold War marked the creation of evolutionary threats to the security of states and their populations. Perceptions of security as an “essentially contested concept” have adapted since the 199 0’s as a result of the new threats challenging individual and international security. 267 As Samuel Huntington predicted; “In this new (post -Cold war) world the most pervasive, important and dangerous conflicts will not be between social classes, rich and poor, or other economically defined groups, but between peoples belonging to different cultural entities. Tribal wars and ethnic conflicts will occur within civilizations. And the most
266 Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism , (Vintage Publishers, 1994), pp. 9. 267 Walter Gallie, ‘Essentially Contested Concept’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society , Volume 56, (1956)
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