ID | 143923 |
Title Proper | China's and India's perspectives on military intervention |
Other Title Information | why Africa but not Syria? |
Language | ENG |
Author | Lee, Pak K ; Chan, Lai-Ha |
Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article addresses the puzzle for students of international relations as to why China and India, two major re-emerging powers in Asia, do not always baulk at military intervention invoked by Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, while they rhetorically harbour strong reservations about it. The recent cases of Côte d'Ivoire (2011), Libya (2011), Syria (since 2011) and Mali (since 2012) show that both China and India acquiesced in external military intervention in these African countries plunged into brutal civil wars, with only intervention in Syria being rebuffed. By studying how they voted in the United Nations Security Council in 2011–12 and their discourses on intervention, including humanitarian intervention, this article examines why their decisions about intervention in Africa diverged from their decisions regarding intervention in Syria. The authors put forward the thesis that their behaviour can be explained by an interplay between norms and interests, in which they express a common anti-US liberal imperialist stance, shaped by a ‘collective historical trauma' and ‘post-imperial ideology', and demonstrate concerns for state failure and preferences for regional initiatives and political mediation to resolve civil wars. |
`In' analytical Note | Australian Journal of International Affairs Vol. 70, No.2; Apr 2016: p.179-214 |
Journal Source | Australian Journal of International Affairs Vol: 70 No 2 |
Key Words | Military Intervention ; China ; India ; Responsibility to Protect ; Collective Historical Trauma ; Post-Colonial Ideology |