Protecting the Human Family: Humanitarian Intervention, International Law, and Bahá’í Principles

Abstract

This article explores the moral and legal problems raised by the recent experiments of the world community with using some kind of military force to come to the rescue of human rights victims—or “humanitarian intervention.” It then examines a variety of ethical principles in the Bahá’í Writings that bear on these problems. Finally, it investigates how these principles might assist us to discover and implement practical measures to reform existing international law to better protect all members of the human family.