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How to justify an intervention: The Saudi Arabian arguments for military intervention in the Yemen Civil War

Bonde, Knut LU (2018) FKVK02 20181
Department of Political Science
Abstract
In 2015, a coalition comprised of Saudi Arabia and its allies, conducted a military intervention in Yemen to protect the internationally recognized government. This study aims to analyse how Saudi Arabian officials has justified the intervention to fight against the Houthi rebels through three principles of just war theory. The study uses these principles as analytical tools in an argumentative analysis based on Stephen Toulmins model. The analysis of various statements during the period of 2015–2017, show that Saudi Arabian officials highlight a couple of areas of why an intervention is legitimate; to protect Yemen sovereignty; compliance with international institutions; an alleged involvement of Iran amongst the rebels; and their... (More)
In 2015, a coalition comprised of Saudi Arabia and its allies, conducted a military intervention in Yemen to protect the internationally recognized government. This study aims to analyse how Saudi Arabian officials has justified the intervention to fight against the Houthi rebels through three principles of just war theory. The study uses these principles as analytical tools in an argumentative analysis based on Stephen Toulmins model. The analysis of various statements during the period of 2015–2017, show that Saudi Arabian officials highlight a couple of areas of why an intervention is legitimate; to protect Yemen sovereignty; compliance with international institutions; an alleged involvement of Iran amongst the rebels; and their humanitarian efforts to reconstruct Yemen. The results show that Saudi Arabia employs the language of just war in their campaign to justify their military efforts. This study serves a purpose of understanding on what grounds military intervention can occur. Further research on how military interventions are constructed by arguments in the 21st century will be important. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Bonde, Knut LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20181
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Yemen, military intervention, Saudi Arabia, just war theory, jus ad bellum, legitimacy
language
English
id
8942628
date added to LUP
2020-08-03 11:30:19
date last changed
2020-08-03 11:30:19
@misc{8942628,
  abstract     = {{In 2015, a coalition comprised of Saudi Arabia and its allies, conducted a military intervention in Yemen to protect the internationally recognized government. This study aims to analyse how Saudi Arabian officials has justified the intervention to fight against the Houthi rebels through three principles of just war theory. The study uses these principles as analytical tools in an argumentative analysis based on Stephen Toulmins model. The analysis of various statements during the period of 2015–2017, show that Saudi Arabian officials highlight a couple of areas of why an intervention is legitimate; to protect Yemen sovereignty; compliance with international institutions; an alleged involvement of Iran amongst the rebels; and their humanitarian efforts to reconstruct Yemen. The results show that Saudi Arabia employs the language of just war in their campaign to justify their military efforts. This study serves a purpose of understanding on what grounds military intervention can occur. Further research on how military interventions are constructed by arguments in the 21st century will be important.}},
  author       = {{Bonde, Knut}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{How to justify an intervention: The Saudi Arabian arguments for military intervention in the Yemen Civil War}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}