Effects and Modes of Effects of Humanitarian Military Interventions

Previous research on humanitarian military interventions has focused on conceptual, normative and ethical issues. The few compa­rative studies on effects are mostly limited to a small number of cases, specific interveners or regions, or they combine humanitarian military interventions with other missions. Supported by the German Foundation for Peace Research, PRIF compiled a dataset on all huma­­nitarian military interventions since 1945 . Based on these data, the project examines the effects and modes of effects of humanitarian military interventions.

It employs a multi-method approach and, first, identifies in which conflicts humanitarian military inter­ventions occur or do not occur. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for research into the effects of these operations. Second, the project examines how humanitarian military inter­ventions, on average, affect the duration and intensity of conflicts. To this end, it quantitatively compares cases of inter­vention with a yet-to-be-established, comparable group of control cases without humanitarian military intervention. The insights gained from this promise to make an important contribution to the question of whether humanitarian military inter­ventions, on the whole, do more harm than good. Third, the project identi­fies the conditions under which humanitarian military inter­ventions are associated with an end to or a decline in violence, or with an escalation or prolongation of the armed conflict. Here, it employs both systematic quali­tative comparisons and quanti­tative methods. The results can provide important insights into the debate over the prospects for success in individual cases.

The project analyzes not only the extent and duration of conflict-related violence but also, among other things, the democrati­zation process in the target countries of humani­tarian military interventions.

The project is funded by the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF) from 2023 to 2026.