The extent of the legitimacy of intervention for humanitarian purposes: a study of the two cases of French intervention in Libya and Mali

Abstract

This paper reviews the extent of the legitimacy of intervention for humanitarian purposes, especially after the end of the Cold War, when this phenomenon was widely known by the major powers, although the phenomenon of intervention is an old phenomenon in international relations. This article further discusses the significance and concept of humanitarian intervention, especially after the doubts that accompanied it. The concept is a result of its misuse by the intervening countries, and it has become used by the major countries as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of weak countries. The intervention is used as a pretext to achieve the strategic interests of the major powers, and this is explained in the case study of the French intervention in Libya in 2011 and Mali 2013.