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Justifying interventions-The case of ECOWAS in Liberia

Wilén, Nina LU (2021) p.339-353
Abstract

In contrast to the other chapters in Part V, Nina Wilén’s focus is on multilateral military interventions at the regional level: She explores the relationship between sovereignty, intervention, and the international normative order, by examining how ECOWAS, an African regional organization, justified its intervention in Liberia’s civil war referring to international norms. Based on a critical discursive analysis of the speeches related to ECOWAS’ decision to intervene in Liberia in 1990, as well as the responses the justifications provoked from the UN and the United States, it is argued that ECOWAS’ intervention and the justifications which accompanied it were clearly influenced by an international normative order where sovereignty is... (More)

In contrast to the other chapters in Part V, Nina Wilén’s focus is on multilateral military interventions at the regional level: She explores the relationship between sovereignty, intervention, and the international normative order, by examining how ECOWAS, an African regional organization, justified its intervention in Liberia’s civil war referring to international norms. Based on a critical discursive analysis of the speeches related to ECOWAS’ decision to intervene in Liberia in 1990, as well as the responses the justifications provoked from the UN and the United States, it is argued that ECOWAS’ intervention and the justifications which accompanied it were clearly influenced by an international normative order where sovereignty is the key constitutive norm and non-intervention the main regulative norm. Yet the fact that ECOWAS also violated the very same norms through its intervention, created a precedent for future regional interventions and implied long-term consequences for the international normative system.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Domestic community, ECOMOG, ECOWAS, Interpretive community, Intervention, Justification, Liberia, Sovereignty, UN, US
host publication
The Justification of War and International Order : From Past to Present - From Past to Present
pages
15 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85113095078
ISBN
9780198865308
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780198865308.003.0019
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
100b0bcf-91e1-4315-b6b1-40d1be842ea2
date added to LUP
2021-09-06 14:59:53
date last changed
2022-04-27 03:42:24
@inbook{100b0bcf-91e1-4315-b6b1-40d1be842ea2,
  abstract     = {{<p>In contrast to the other chapters in Part V, Nina Wilén’s focus is on multilateral military interventions at the regional level: She explores the relationship between sovereignty, intervention, and the international normative order, by examining how ECOWAS, an African regional organization, justified its intervention in Liberia’s civil war referring to international norms. Based on a critical discursive analysis of the speeches related to ECOWAS’ decision to intervene in Liberia in 1990, as well as the responses the justifications provoked from the UN and the United States, it is argued that ECOWAS’ intervention and the justifications which accompanied it were clearly influenced by an international normative order where sovereignty is the key constitutive norm and non-intervention the main regulative norm. Yet the fact that ECOWAS also violated the very same norms through its intervention, created a precedent for future regional interventions and implied long-term consequences for the international normative system.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wilén, Nina}},
  booktitle    = {{The Justification of War and International Order : From Past to Present}},
  isbn         = {{9780198865308}},
  keywords     = {{Domestic community; ECOMOG; ECOWAS; Interpretive community; Intervention; Justification; Liberia; Sovereignty; UN; US}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{339--353}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  title        = {{Justifying interventions-The case of ECOWAS in Liberia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198865308.003.0019}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/oso/9780198865308.003.0019}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}