03: Democratic Interventionism or Responsibility to Protect?
Democratic interventionism (DI) intends to export democratic forms of government to previously non-democratic states by military means. Cases include the interventions in Iraq in 2003, in Libya in 2011, and the current situation in Syria. In this connection, two legal and ethical questions arise: First, under which conditions do opposition groups have a right to resort to the use of force against an oppressive regime and, ultimately, even instigate a civil war? Second, do third states have the right to support such developments with the perspective of achieving a regime change and/or of preparing the ground for the call for a “humanitarian intervention”? One possible approach to justify DI is the new concept of “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P), endorsed in various UN documents since 2004. If a state fails to fulfil its basic duty to protect its people from grave human rights violations, the international community, as the bearer of a “subsidiary” responsibility to protect, is called upon to help, ultimately even by the use of force. The seminar will clarify the normative problems of DI indicated above, and aims to develop possible solutions from the perspective of both public international law and legal ethics.
| |||||
|
Dr. iur. Reinhard MERKEL
Professor of Criminal Law and Philosophy of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Hamburg
| Studium der Rechtswissenschaft, der Philosophie und der Literaturwissenschaft in Bochum, Heidelberg und München | |
| 1977 | Erstes juristisches Staatsexamen, München |
| 1980 | Zweites juristisches Staatsexamen, München |
| 1985-1988 | Assistent am Institut für Rechtsphilosophie, München |
| 1988-1990 | Redakteur der Wochenzeitung "Die Zeit" (Feuilleton) |
| 1993 | Promotion ("Strafrecht und Satire im Werk von Karl Kraus"), München |
| 1997 | Habilitation ("Früheuthanasie"), Frankfurt am Main |
| 1998 | Ruf an die Universitäten Bielefeld und Rostock |
| 1999 | Ruf an die Universität Hamburg |
| seit 2000 | Professor für Strafrecht und Rechtsphilosophie, Universität Hamburg |
Dr. Veronique ZANETTI
Professor of Political Philosophy, Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld
| 1979-1985 | Studies in Philosophy, Musicology and English Literature, Geneva University |
| 1985-1987 | Staff member with Professor Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht (now at Stanford University), Siegen |
| 1987-1988 | Assistant prof. at the Geneva University, Geneva |
| 1988-1993 | Assistant prof. at the University Bern with Professor Gerhard Seel |
| 1993 | PhD on Kant s philosophy of nature: La Nature a-t-elle une fin? Le problème de la téléologie chez Kant |
| 1994-1997 | Assistant prof. at the University of Fribourg by prof. Jean-Claude Wolf |
| 1997-1999 | Grand from the Swiss National Funds for Research During that period (visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York by Prof. Thomas Pogge) |
| 2002 | Habilitation in philosophy in Fribourg with a study on the ethical aspects of humanitarian Intervention: "Universalisme des droits et stratégies de paix. Réflexions éthiques autour du droit d intervention humanitaire" |
| since 2004 | Prof. for political philosophy, University Bielefeld |
