Western Interventions in Current Wars: Political Justification and Civil Society´s Response

Abstract

On the one hand, it seems to be an agreement in Western countries in favor of values included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On the other hand, Western countries initiate or intervene in armed conflicts outside their territories, which implies actions contrary to such values. This article examines this apparent contradiction: it describes briefly the international context of contemporary conflicts and it refers to the just-war tradition in order to analyze both the position of the Charter of the United Nations and the justifications given by Western countries. Moreover, the arguments used by the US and the Spanish Governments to justify their interventions in the Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2008) wars, and the responses of civil society are considered.

Keywords

• guerra justa
• relaciones internacionales
• guerra de Irak
• guerra de Afganistán