Humanitarian Intervention

Benjamin A. Valentino’s article, The True Costs of Humanitarian Intervention, argues for the United States to continue with its involvement in humanitarian aid efforts, but in a new and “better way”. While Valentino’s point that “although humanitarian intervention has undoubtedly saved lives, Americans have seriously underappreciated the moral, political, and economic price involved” is incredibly true, his analysis of said prices and his suggestions for rethinking American Foreign Policy regarding humanitarian issues are inherently flawed. One point that Valentino gets right however, is that many people believe that the United States has a moral obligation to intervene in crises. He continues, noting that some of the most critical costs
He advises nations outside of a conflict to keep their borders open to victims fleeing violence and while this may sound like the obvious course of action when dealing with mass killings and genocide, he fails to acknowledge the risks and consequences that come along with allowing large numbers of refugees into a state. Using the recent refugee crisis in Syria as an example, accepting migrants presents two main issues. First, the potential for exploitation of the generous acceptance of refugees by states in the form of economic migrants and forged paperwork. The number of people clamoring to get into Europe has increased exponentially over the past few years due largely to the willingness of countries to provide humanitarian needs to the refugees hoping to get in. The Washington post found in a recent study that many migrants arriving in Europe from Syria are not refugees from persecution and the threat of death but economic migrants looking for a better life. They see the opening of borders as an opportunity to take advantage of the generous social welfare benefits of the EU states, particularly in Germany. In regard to the issue of forged paperwork, a 2013 survey conducted by the Turkish government’s Emergency Management Agency found that fewer than 30 percent of so-called Syrians had entered Turkey — the common starting point for the long
Additionally, the suggestions that Valentino makes for dealing with humanitarian crises in the future completely fail to address the consequences and risks associated with opening borders to refugees. Now this is not to say that humanitarian intervention is inherently bad and that the United States should leave civilians to suffer under terrible circumstances, but the US must look at all of the possible consequences of humanitarian intervention to act in accordance with its own national