In the Cause of Humanity
A History of Humanitarian Intervention in the Long Nineteenth Century

In the Cause of Humanity is a major new history of the emergence of the theory and practice of humanitarian intervention during the nineteenth century when the question of whether, when and how the international community should react to violations of humanitarian norms and humanitarian crises first emerged as a key topic of controversy and debate. Fabian Klose investigates the emergence of legal debates on the protection of humanitarian norms by violent means, revealing how military intervention under the banner of humanitarianism became closely intertwined with imperial and colonial projects. Through case studies including the international fight against the slave trade, the military interventions under the banner of humanitarian aid for Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire, and the intervention of the United States in the Cuban War of Independence, he shows how the idea of humanitarian intervention established itself as a recognized instrument in international politics and international law.

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'In the Cause of Humanity is a masterful intervention into the debate on the origins and the first century of humanitarian intervention.  Fabian Klose has written a methodical and textured history of that explores how 19th century humanitarian intervention was entangled with new discourses of humanity, a newly evolving international law precariously situated between notions of legal equality and European confidence in their civilizational superiority, and imperial impulses and colonial conquest. Klose has written an exceptionally compelling guide to the past and the present.' Michael Barnett, author of Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism

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Product details

• Date Published: December 2021
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9781316516201
• length: 472 pages

• dimensions: 235 x 158 x 32 mm
• weight: 0.8kg
• availability: In stock