“love for country into imperialism.” 299 Therefore, the distinct move away from state-centric conflicts following the Cold War also represents a shift away from policies based on imperialism. Cosmopolitanism and post-Cold War humanitarian military interventions share the common interests of defending human rights and the protection of civilians against murderous governments. It also challenges the decisions for not intervening in conflicts of oppression and genocide such as Rwanda and Bosnia prior to UN intervention. 300 Theoretical support for humanitarian intervention is not uncommon amongst any theoretical school, however Cosmopolitanism offers significant ideas on the necessity of such operations as Bobbitt concludes; “Support for humanitarian military intervention is premised on the widespread feeling that the exercise of military force has been both possible and urgently needed to stop grave humanitarian crimes.” 301 This can be used to legitimise international action within Somalia from 1991, possibly the most controversial of all post-Cold War UN interventions. During the political chaos of the early 1990’s, Somalia descended into a deadly civil war in which the destruction of agriculture and livestock halted the nation’s food production. The subsequent famine and drought led to the death of around 300,000 civilians and 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDP’s). 302 This set the conditions for widespread criticism towards the lack of UN action in preventing and reacting to such a humanitarian disaster, resulting in Operation Restore Hope, led by the United States. From a theoretical and moral perspective, the legitimacy of the intervention is unprecedented. The situation in Somalia by 1992 clearly constituted a humanitarian crisis caused by 299 Hans Morgenthau, Scientific Man Vs. Power Politics, (University of Chicago Press, 1965), pp. 194-95. 300 Phil Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History, (Penguin, 2002), pp. 414-67. 301 Robert Fine, Cosmopolitanism, (London, Routledge, 2007), pp. 79. 302 Ken Rutherford, Humanitarianism Under Fire: The US and UN Intervention in Somalia , (Sterling, Kumarian Press, 2008), pp. 38.
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