name of morality should prevail over frontiers and legal documents.” 281 The issue of sovereignty has been widely contested, and is often used by restrictionist scholars such as Noam Chomsky, arguing that aside from collective and self-defence, there can be no exception for military intervention. 282 Restrictionism argues for the ‘vital interests of states’ to support the claim that UN interventions throughout the 1990’s reflected policies of imperialistic intentions. 283 Conversely, the most significant change in the evolution of humanitarian interventions is the willingness to put human security before state sovereignty. For example, throughout the 1980’s the UN was helpless in conflicts such as Northern Ireland, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Salvador and Nicaragua due to the unwillingness of disputants. A significant reflection of the changing nature of interventions comes from the reformed practise of humanitarianism from the intervening UN forces. The highly volatile, politicised nature of post- Cold War conflicts challenged the UN’s commitment to “impartiality, neutrality and independence.” 284 Offering humanitarian aid to civilians within a conflict could also often mean unintentionally offering aid to one or more groups involved in the fighting due to the changing combatants within conflicts. Increased civilian participation in conflicts to overthrow a national government or defeat a competing armed militia creates an impossible scenario for UN humanitarian aid workers, who must differentiate between civilian and combatant. Nevertheless, the delivery of humanitarian aid and support for international Non- Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) illustrates the commitment to the moral obligations of the international community, rather than imperialistic motives. The payoff for a successful intervention, as Bass argues is very minimal. Considering the 281 Abiew pp. 1. 282 Anthony, Arend, International Law and the Use of Force: Beyond the U.N. Charter Paradigm, (Routledge, 2014), pp. 106. 283 Noam Chomsky, The New Military Humanism: Lessons from Kosovo , (London: Pluto Press, 1999) 284 Michael Barnett , ‘Humanitarianism Transformed’ , Perspectives on Politics , 3.4, (2005), pp. 724.
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