Why Do States Decide for or Against Humanitarian Interventions? Explaining the Intervention in Libya and the Nonintervention in Syria : A Case Study

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 1,3, LMU Munich, language: English, abstract: This paper examines the reasons states have when deciding for or against their engagement in a humanitarian intervention. It uses the theories of Neorealism, Institutionalism, Liberalism and Social Constructivism to identify possible motivations influencing the decision about such an engagement. These motivations are then applied in a case study that compares the 2011 intervention in Libya to the nonintervention in Syria following the events of the Arab Spring, in order to explain intervention and nonintervention in two similar cases.