Jus Ad Bellum and intervention in Somalia: why a military response can still work

Abstract

Somalia has suffered a rupture. Following the failed United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) interventions to stabilise the failed state, few state leaders or military organisations consider serious intervention. The research on which this article is based, sought to provide a theoretical foundation for reintervention into Somalia using “just-war” theory, particularly that of jus ad bellum. By highlighting how intervention is just, feasible and legitimate when employed through the right channels and within the right strategic framework, this article reports on ways in which the hypothetical stabilisation of Somalia can be achieved realistically, should the political will ever emerge. The lessons of UNOSOM are not necessarily valid anymore, and as such the research reported here examined the problem of Somalia on the basis that intervention need not result in another Blackhawk Down.¹