The question of whether China will buy into the prevailing liberal, rule-based international order—one promoted and underwritten by the United States—ought to be revised with regard to one key element: the Westphalian norm of sovereignty and non-intervention. The West is seeking major modifications that weaken the norm, while China is the champion of the established rule and the international order based on it. Several leading Western progressive leaders and public intellectuals have championed the legitimation of another major category of intervention: armed humanitarian intervention, referred to as the “responsibility to protect.” And some in the West favor legitimizing interference in the internal affairs of other nations if they develop nuclear arms, referred to as the “responsibility to prevent.” Both entail not merely making exceptions to the sovereignty norm on a case-by-case basis if a crisis is faced (say as Qaddafi’s forces are about to overrun Benghazi and threaten to slaughter civilians), but for the categorical legitimation of interventions if they meet a priori criteria.
Read the rest here in IP Journal.
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