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Editor's
Note THE second meeting of the Pugwash study group on Intervention, Sovereignty and International Security took place in Como, Italy, from 28-30 September 2000. In the months since the group first met, in Venice the preceding December, several events had further shaped the debate over humanitarian intervention. These included, most notably: the ongoing crisis in Sierra Leone (including the arrival and failure of the UN intervention force); the publication in August of the Brahimi report; Secretary General Kofi Annan’s call at the UN Millennium Summit in September for an extended UN role in the protection of human rights; and continued post-conflict tensions in Kosovo. For some, the implications of these events were that an international consensus continues to develop in support of humanitarian intervention. Yet, as discussion at the Como workshop demonstrated, there remain deep political reservations, especially outside of the US and NATO Europe, for any type of intervention not expressly approved by the UN Security Council. A report of the workshop discussion can be found in the December 2000 issue of the Pugwash Newsletter, and on the Pugwash website at www.pugwash.org. In future meetings, the next scheduled for Castellón de la Plana, Spain in May 2001, the Pugwash study group will examine ways of forging an international consensus in support of humanitarian intervention, when needed and feasible, but do so in the larger context of analyzing those structures and mechanisms that can promote peace-building, the stability of states and societies, and collective security. For their help in making the Como workshop possible, Pugwash gratefully acknowledges the support of the Municipality of Como and the Landau Network–Centro Volta in hosting the meeting, and the Rockefeller Foundation in providing travel and publication support. Jeffrey
Boutwell |