ABSTRACT
This paper tackles one of the most controversial matters on when and how
humanitarian intervention is enacted. An intensive study under the most
similar design of the unique cases of Libya and Syria are carried out. Two
cases poised under the same circumstances, during the uprising of the
Arab Spring thus with complete differing outcomes, are studied for the
purpose to define reasons linked to outcomes. To this matter theories like
realism, liberalism and Just War Theory will help to comprehend the
contexts behind when a humanitarian intervention is legitimized and when
it is not. A qualitative content analysis combined to the process tracing
will be used for the purpose to study of humanitarian intervention, a
complex issue where eliminating interactions effects and multiple level of
analysis are needed. A fusion of the theories of realism, liberalism and
Just War Theory allows a unique comprehension on understanding when
but also how an intervention is triggered. It is, through this analysis,
evident that the causal mechanism triggering intervention occurs when
national interests are at stake.
2014. , s. 57